Durham Student Held for 5 Months in UAE Faces Spying Charges

UK student was suddenly accused of spying after being held in solitary confinement for five months in the United Arab Emirates. Who’s this person? In this post, the Typical Student team will tell you more detailed.

Who’s This Student?

His name is Matthew Hedges and he’s a 31-year-old student at Durham University. Matthew faces spy charges in UAE. Recently, he attended his second hearing at an Abu Dhabi court. It was adjourned until October 24.

Matthew’s wife, Daniela Tejada, says that student’s family did not receive the info about the charges against him. Matthew was detained at Dubai airport on May 5. It happened after a two-week visit to carry out interviews relating to his doctoral thesis. The topic is the impact of the UAE’s foreign and security strategy.

What Happened to Matthew Hedges?

So, his family had no idea where Matthew Hedges was all this time. Only last month the local press reported that one foreign national had been accused of “seeking confidential information about the UAE” to pass to an overseas agency. The report also claims that the suspect had confessed to spying during questioning.

UK Officials

All we know for now is that UK consular officials have made two visits to Matthew Hedges, who, by the way, worked as an analyst for a UAE-based security and political consultancy firm.