DUBAI – A United Arab Emirates court sentenced British student MatthewHedges to life in jail on spying charges on Wednesday, prompting a”shocked” Britain to warn of repercussions for relations with itslongstanding Gulf ally.
Hedges, a 31-year-old PhD student, had protested his innocence ever sincehis arrest at Dubai airport on May 5 and British ministers had raised hiscase at the highest level.
“We can confirm that he was sentenced to life in prison,” a familyspokesperson told AFP.
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“The hearing lasted less than five minutes, and his lawyer was notpresent.” Hedges was researching the UAE’s foreign and internal securitypolicies after the Arab Spring revolutions of 2011, studies that
