Academic tortured in UAE calls for delay to sale of The Telegraph
A British academic jailed and tortured in the United Arab Emirates after being falsely accused of spying has criticised the bid by an Abu Dhabi-led investment fund to buy The Telegraph.
Matthew Hedges, who was sentenced to life in jail in November 2018 after being arrested at Dubai airport, before being eventually released later that month, called for the UK Government to delay the proposed deal.
The RedBird IMI investment fund planning to take ownership of The Telegraph and The Spectator is led by the former CNN chief Jeff Zucker and mostly funded by Abu Dhabi royalty, whose city is the capital of the UAE.
Writing in a letter to this newspaper Mr Hedges said: “It is entirely correct and appropriate that the Government should issue a public interest intervention notice delaying the proposed deal by UAE based RedBird IMI to purchase The Telegraph.”
He added: “As a victim of torture at the hands of the UAE, simply for undertaking legitimate academic research, I personally attest to the UAE’s disregard for human rights. It would be inappropriate to surrender a trusted media outlet to a foreign state who does not themselves respect freedom of speech.”
Mr Hedges said the proposed deal was intended to increase the UAE’s “political leverage and influence” and should be stopped in order to defend British democracy.
“These titles will lose their independence. If you’re funded by a foreign state you don’t want to bite the hand that feeds,” he told BBC Newsnight on Friday.
The academic was falsely accused of spying for MI6 after being arrested at Dubai airport in May 2018, as he tried to leave the UAE.
It took a month following his arrest before Mr Hedges was even granted a meeting with a British consular officer.
During the first month of detention, Mr Hedges, who completed his PhD at Durham University, suffered prolonged interrogation and torture at the hands of the Emirate’s security services, who accused him of spying for the British government.
Earlier this year the Parliamentary Ombudsman recommended that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) apologise to Mr Hedges for failing to protect him from torture after he was arrested and pay him £1,500 in compensation.
In a statement, the UAE government said: “Mr Hedges received entirely proper care and treatment.
“He had bedding, reading materials, a television, access to family, consular officials and lawyers and extensive medical care. He was never subjected to, or threatened with, either torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment of any sort.”