UAE President Frees British Student, Jailed for life for Spying

 The United Arab Emirates on Monday pardoned and released a British academic jailed for life on spying charges, granting a request for clemency after showing a video of him purportedly confessing to membership of the UK’s MI6 intelligence service.

The UAE President has granted clemency to Matthew Hedges, British national convicted for spying in the UAE, on Monday.



Matthew Hedges, a British Citizen, guilty of the crime of spying for and on behalf of a foreign state, jeopardising the military, economic and political security of the UAE. Hedges was sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday 21st November 2018, the Abu Dhabi Federal Court .



Presidential Pardon has been issued with immediate effect by His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates. The customary National Day Presidential pardon includes Hedges as part of a tranche of clemency orders issued on the occasion of the UAE's 47th National Day anniversary.



The UAE showed footage at a news conference in which Hedges purportedly confessed to being an MI6 foreign intelligence agent.

A UAE official said that the presidential pardon came in response to a letter by Hedges's family delivered by a British official.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt welcomed the move, which he called “fantastic news”.