Distraught wife pleads for help to free Briton jailed as a spy
THE desperate wife of a British academic jailed for life for spying in the United Arab Emirates hailed the Government yesterday for "doing everything in their power" to help.
Daniela Tejada emerged from a meeting with Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt about the plight of 31-year-old academic Matthew Hedges to declare: "This is not a fight I can win alone and I thank the Foreign Office and the British public for now standing up for one of their citizens. "It was a marked change of tone from her comments earlier in the day after she had flown home from Abu Dhabi to fight for Matthew's release and claimed the Foreign Office had "failed" her husband by putting UK interests above her husband's. Mr Hunt has threatened the UAE with "serious diplomatic consequences" if Mr Hedges, a PhD student originally from Exeter, is not freed, saying he has seen "absolutely no evidence" to support the spying charge against him.
Ms Tejada said after talks with the Cabinet minister: "I really appreciate the Foreign Secretary taking the time to meet me at this crucial point in Matt's life.
"He has assured me that he and his team are doing everything in their power to get Matt free and return him home to me.
"This is not a fight I can win alone."
Ms Tejada had flown home in shock from Abu Dhabi after watching in horror in a UAE court on Wednesday as her husband was told he faced up to 25 years behind bars.
Mr Hedges said he had been in the country conducting research on the UAE's security strategy for his PhD thesis when he was arrested at Dubai airport on May 5. But sources in the UAE claim "espionage material" was found on Mr Hedges's laptop.
Prosecutors claim he confessed during questioning.
However, Ms Tejada said: "Handing a life sentence to an innocent researcher who held the UAE in high regard speaks volumes about their lack of tolerance and respect for human life."
The academic met his Colombian-born wife when they were at Exeter University.
They married in January last year but have spent much of their relationship as a long-distance couple while he has been in the Gulf.