AVTUAE

Why I’m taking my fight for justice from the UAE to the courts

Matthew Hedges | May 5 2021, The Times

Three years ago today, I was at Dubai airport returning home after a two-week research trip for my PhD. I was suddenly surrounded by security guards and arrested without a warrant or access to a lawyer. What followed was terrifying and surreal.

I was falsely accused of being a spy for the British government; forced to “confess”; held in solitary confinement for seven months; sentenced to life in prison and then, pardoned and deported. After five months, my wife mounted a public campaign to secure my freedom, without which I don’t think I would be here today.

Despite this very public effort to have me released, my fight for justice and accountability has been blocked.

Through the Foreign Office I submitted a complaint against the UAE but they haven’t responded. The FCDO have not done enough to clear my name. I hoped that they would learn from what happened and improve their policies. Unfortunately, what I have encountered has been the complete opposite of this.

I am well aware that the FCDO are not to blame for my detention. Whilst I have criticised them, the real responsibility lies with those who imprisoned me. Therefore, my lawyers have today filed a civil claim in the UK courts against the four UAE nationals we believe are directly responsible for my detention.

I am doing this now because, exactly three years after I was detained, there has been no progress in achieving even a semblance of justice and accountability. I have tried to work with the FCDO, the Metropolitan Police and the UN to find a solution but it has led nowhere.

During my detention, my mental and physical health seriously deteriorated — leaving me suicidal and with PTSD. It feels like I am the only one paying for what happened.

This is compounded by the UK’s refusal to reassess its relationship with the UAE. Dubai is a major tourist destination for Britons. The UAE is a supposed ally and there is strong state co-operation within the fields of security and investment. But the UK has too often turned a blind eye to systematic abuses by the UAE, putting other interests ahead of basic human rights.

I wish I could put all this behind me, but the injustice of what I suffered and the lack of accountability has been too much to bear. I know this next phase of my fight for justice is not going to be easy but I have to do it, as my own government has abandoned me in favour of its relationship with the UAE.

Matthew Hedges is a British academic who was arrested on charges of espionage in the UAE in May 2018. He was released in December 2018 and now campaigns for academic freedom

The Times 03.05.2021

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