UK student slammed with life sentence by UAE released after pardon

Relief has come the way of a UK student, Matthew Hedges as he has been granted presidential pardon by the UAE days after he was slammed with a life sentence by an Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal on charges of espionage.

Reports say the 31-year-old scholar who was released on Monday was among more than 700 people pardoned by the UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Monday, the country’s national day.

The scholar will be permitted to leave the UAE “once formalities are completed”, an official statement said, ahead of his release.

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Daniela Tejada, Hedges’ wife, said on Twitter that the pardon was the “best news we could’ve received”.

Hedges bagged the sentence after he was convicted of spying and supplying sensitive security info to external actors.

The verdict was handed down last Wednesday, a move which was earlier described as deeply disappointing by British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Reports say Hedges, a PhD student at Durham University, was arrested on May 5 at Dubai airport after a two-week research visit.

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