Authorities of United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Monday arrested a British PhD student for alleged spying, ROYAL NEWS has gathered.
According to reports, “The Attorney General of United Arab Emirates … confirmed today that Mr Matthew Hedges, a British Citizen, has been charged with spying for and on behalf of a foreign State, jeopardizing the military, economy and political security of the UAE,” the government said in a statement.
Hedges, a doctoral student at Durham University, has spent five months in jail after he was arrested on May 5 at Dubai airport at the end of a study trip, his wife Daniela Tejeda said.
Local investigators claim they gathered evidence by rummaging through Hedges’ electronic devices and from intelligence done by UAE security agencies.
Euronews has sent a request for comment to the British Foreign Office.
According to his wife, Hedges, who travelled to the UAE to carry out academic research, has only been granted two consular visits since his arrest.
The 31-year-old appeared at a court hearing in Abu Dhabi last week after a first hearing earlier in the month, but was not informed of any charges, Tejeda said.
According to the Durham University website, Hedges is a doctoral student in the School of Government and International Affairs and had co-authored a paper about the Muslim Brotherhood and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
