UAE demanded extradition of opposition figures in exchange for British student’s release

The UAE asked Britain to extradite a number of members of the opposition in return for the release of British PhD student Matthew Hedges who was sentenced to life imprisonment.

According to a source who spoke to Arabic news site Arabi21 on condition of anonymity, the UK refused the demand telling the UAE that its laws do not allow it to extradite asylum seekers.

The Durham University student Hedges was arrested by Emirati state security officers at Dubai airport in May, after spending a fortnight in the country researching his PhD thesis on its security structure after the Arab Spring. He returned to the UK in late November after receiving a pardon.

After Hedges was handed a life term by a court in Abu Dhabi, the British ambassador to the UAE toured the Emirates in what officials said was “a message from Britain” – which united the country – to demonstrate that it still has influence over it. “This has contributed to hastening the release of the British citizen.”

READ: Back in UK, pardoned British academic to ‘sue the UAE’