{"id":571,"date":"2021-05-03T13:17:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-03T12:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/?p=571"},"modified":"2021-06-24T13:23:20","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T12:23:20","slug":"why-im-taking-my-fight-for-justice-from-the-uae-to-the-courts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/?p=571","title":{"rendered":"Why I\u2019m taking my fight for justice from the UAE to the courts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Matthew Hedges | May 5 2021, The Times<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was falsely accused of being a spy for the British government; forced to \u201cconfess\u201d; 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\u2019t think I would be here today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this very public effort to have me released, my fight for justice and accountability has been blocked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the Foreign Office I submitted a complaint against the UAE but they haven\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During my detention, my mental and physical health seriously deteriorated \u2014 leaving me suicidal and with PTSD. It feels like I am the only one paying for what happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is compounded by the UK\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Times 03.05.2021<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-victims"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=571"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":574,"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571\/revisions\/574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}