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The wife of a man imprisoned in the UAE says he wasn't even allowed to look at her as he was sentenced to life in a 5-minute hearing
The wife of a British academic who has been sentenced to life in prison in the United Arab Emirates said he was not even allowed to look at her in court.
Matthew Hedges was sentenced on charges of spying for the British government at a five-minute hearing where he didn't have a lawyer.
His wife, Daniela Tejada, also said that she was not allowed to speak to him after the sentencing and that she does not know where he's being held.
The UK government said that it had not seen any evidence that Hedges is a spy and that there would be "serious diplomatic consequences" for the UAE, usually seen as an ally.
The wife of Matthew Hedges, a British academic imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates on spying charges, said he wasn't even allowed to look at her during the five-minute hearing where he was sentenced to life in prison.
"I asked him to look at me if he was feeling too nervous, and he tried to do so on a couple of occasions but was asked to face the judge," Daniela Tejada told the BBC's "Today" program on Thursday.
Tejada also said she was not able to talk to him after he was sentenced on charges of spying for the British government on Wednesday in a five-minute hearing where he had no lawyer present.
"We were separated by about 10 to 20 meters, and as soon as the sentence was given, we were both made to leave the room immediately," she said.
Hedges, a 31-year-old doctoral student in Middle Eastern studies at Durham University, has been in detention since he was arrested at the airport in Dubai in May. He was not allowed any legal representation until his third court hearing, the UK newspaper The Guardian reported.
Tejada said Hedges had to ask to hear the verdict again to "double check if he had heard right."
The UAE's attorney general, Hamad Al Shamsi, said Hedges would have the right to appeal the verdict before the federal supreme court, though Tejada told the "Today" program that she had been able to speak to his court-appointed lawyer only once about this possibility.
She said she did not yet have confirmation of where he is now being held, adding, "I can imagine he's just as distraught as I am."
The UK government has condemned the sentence and said it could have serious diplomatic consequences for the relationship between the two allies.
The UK foreign minister, Jeremy Hunt, tweeted on Wednesday that the UK government had "seen no evidence to back up charges against" Hedges. He said his office would do "ALL we can to get him home."
"UAE claim to be friend & ally of the UK so there will be serious diplomatic consequences. Unacceptable," he wrote.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday that she was "deeply disappointed and concerned" about the case and that she would raise it with authorities in the UAE.
But Tejada said the government "should have taken a firmer stance from the beginning" and that the Foreign Office had been dismissive of her repeated requests for help in a bid to preserve its relationship with an ally.
"They were stepping on eggshells instead of taking a firm stance," she said.
The UAE said Hedges pleaded guilty to the charges when he was being cross-examined, The Guardian reported.
But Tejada said that any admissions her husband might have made after months of detainment and solitary confinement should not be considered valid.
"He was put through so much strain for six months that absolutely nothing that he said - or didn't - can be used against him," Tejada said.
"The core issue is that he was being detained and being held ... for something that he did not do," she said.
