United Arab Emirates pardons and will free a British academic sentenced to life in prison for spying.
The United Arab Emirates on Monday pardoned a British academic sentenced to life in prison for spying in the Gulf Arab country, showing videos of him purportedly acknowledging the he worked for MI-6, the British intelligence.
The announcement on Matthew Hedges’ upcoming release ends a diplomatic headache for the UAE, a staunch American and British ally in the Mideast.
However, Emirati officials made a point to insist their arrest came on solid ground, showing a closed-door meeting of journalists hastily convened in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, short video clips of Hedges allegedly acknowledging his intelligence work.
« He was a part-time PhD researcher, a part-time businessman, but he was a 100-percent a full-time secret service operative, » said Jaber al-Lamki, an official with the UAE’s National Media Council.
« Mr. Hedges has been found guilty of espionage. He sought out sensitive information he knew had access to it.
