ABritish academic arrested in the UAE on suspicion of spying is facing at least another month in solitary confinement while an Abu Dhabi court re-examines the evidence against him.
Matthew Hedges, 31, was arrested at Dubai airport in May on allegations of spying for a foreign state and has been held at undisclosed prison location in the UAE since then.
He appeared in court on Wednesday, where his lawyer insisted on his innocence and asked the judge to re-examine the evidence against him before delivering a verdict.
The judge agreed and scheduled another hearing for November 21. By then, Mr Hedges will have been held in solitary confinement for more than six months.
“Given the way the UAE have treated Matt since they detained him with no explanation, I did not have high hopes that Matt, an innocent man, would be granted anything close to a fair trial,” said Daniela Tejada, Mr Hedges’ wife.
“Although I welcome this decision to review the evidence, it pains me to think that by his next court hearing, Matt will have been detained for over six months for carrying out legitimate academic research.”
The case has strained the close relationship between the UK and the UAE, and Abu Dhabi appears to have been stung by the widespread media coverage of his detention.
The UAE foreign ministry put out a statement insisting that “Mr Hedges’ welfare has been appropriately supported and maintained throughout the process”.
The ministry said that he was receiving regular visits from family and British embassy officials and has been allowed access to “books and reading material of his choice”.
Ms Tajeda disputed those claims, saying that he had been allowed only two visits from family in five months as well as “two to five minute monitored random phone calls”.
She said British embassy officials had only been allowed to visit him twice for a total of 35 minutes since May 5.
Ms Tajeda also said that UAE prison officials had only recently given Mr Hedges a set of books which she sent to him in July.
“I know how they are keeping him and their statement is false. They know this, I know this and so does the Foreign Office,” Ms Tajeda said.
A spokeswoman for the family also that Mr Hedges had only been given a medical assessment outside prison after his case became public. External doctors changed a prescription for medicine given to him by prison doctors.
Mr Hedges had been in the UAE completing research for his PhD at Durham University. He was studying the UAE’s foreign policy and security strategy.
The UAE has not made public the evidence against him but it is believed that authorities grew suspicious about questions he was asking his interview subjects.
“Matt is an innocent man. He was in the UAE to finish his PhD. The evidence will undoubtedly show this,” his wife said.
There was no immediate comment from the Foreign Office. British authorities have raised Mr Hedges’ case with the UAE several times.
“The UAE invests considerable time and money painting itself as a progressive and tolerant country, but Hedges’ case shows the face of an autocratic government with a fundamental lack of respect for the rule of law,” Human Rights Watch deputy Middle East director, Michael Page, said in a statement this week.
