Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt statement on the Matthew Hedges case in UAE

[KGB_resident]

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has expressed shock and disappointment at the sentencing of British man Matthew Hedges in the United Arab Emirates.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt statement on the Matthew Hedges case in UAE

I am deeply shocked and disappointed by the verdict today. I have personally raised the case of Matthew Hedges at the highest levels of the UAE government, including during my visit to Abu Dhabi on 12 November. On that occasion, I spoke to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed.

www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-46294457

A Briton jailed for life for spying in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) pleaded guilty when he was confronted with "compelling" evidence, prosecutors say.
Matthew Hedges, 31, always said he was innocent and had been researching the country's security strategy for a PhD.

...in a statement, UAE Attorney General Dr Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, said Hedges had pleaded guilty to all charges after the court presented him with "compelling legal evidence concluded after thorough judicial investigations".
''The defendant confessed in detail to his crimes during investigations whereby he was accorded his full rights and assurances as per the UAE Constitution and state laws to fair and transparent trial,'' he said.

Hedges' family however, said that during the first six weeks of his detention he was interrogated without a lawyer and consular access was unavailable.
During this time he was made to sign a document in Arabic which transpired to be a confession, they said.
"Matthew does not speak or read Arabic," the family added.

What HMG should do in this situation?

 

[Daxx]

Sharpen the mangos.

 

[scalieback]

Russia, UAE sign partnership deal, aim for stability in oil markets | Reuters
Russia and the UAE are ‘strategic partners’

Agitprop merchant spins his rhetoric ..... again

 

[ordinaryforces]

have we any gun boats left? or do we not do that sort of thing anymore?

 

[Sixty]

I'm struggling to see what this has to do with the Ministry of Defence. Locked.