A United Arab Emirates (UAE) court on Wednesday, sentenced life imprisonment to British student Matthew Hedges after they found something curious about Hedge convicting spying.
Family spokesperson told AFP (Agence France-Presse), “We can confirm that he was sentenced to life in prison.”
“The hearing lasted less than five minutes, and his lawyer was not present,” they said.
Hearing UAE’s court decision, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he was “deeply shocked and disappointed”.
Hunt also said, “Today’s verdict is not what we expect from a friend and trusted partner of the United Kingdom and runs contrary to earlier assurances.”
31-year-old PhD student Hedges was researching about the information regarding UAE’s foreign and international security policies, after when he was detained at Dubai airport on May 5 after the Arab Spring revolutions.
From the date October 29, when he was granted temporary release from the court, he was monitored till Wednesday’s UAE court hearing.
His wife had previously showed concerns for Hedges’s safety and said Hedges was held in solitary confinement with less contact access to British consulate and his family.
Earlier this month, UAE attorney general Hamad al-Shamsi had said Hedges was accused of “spying for a foreign country, jeopardising the military, political and economic security of the state”.