Problem
Matthew Hedges is a 31 year old PhD student who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the UAE after being accused of spying for the British government. Whilst held in the UAE in the six weeks before his trial, he was interrogated without a lawyer and possibly under duress. His final hearing lasted less than five minutes, and there was no lawyer present. His family also alleges that he has been badly mistreated, which is reflective of the UAEs human rights record. This is not only a failure of the UAEs justice system, it is a failure of the UK Foreign Office for not affording him a lawyer during his hearing or in the six weeks whilst under interrogation, and not investigating the alleged breaches of human rights whilst Matthew has been in the UAEs custody.

Whilst the UAE claims Matthew signed a full confession this is also untrue. He signed a document brought to him in those six weeks without a lawyer and under possible duress. However this document was written in Arabic, a language Matthew neither speaks or reads.

The UAEs constitution allows a fair and transparent trial, yet clearly in Matthew’s case, it has been neither.

Solution
- The Foreign Office must provide Matthew with full legal counsel during any attempt at appeal.
- His condition whilst in prison must be monitored, and any breaches in human rights or mistreatment must be reported.
-The UK government must look at possible diplomatic sanctions including: - Trade Sanctions
- Military Sanctions
- Expulsion of diplomats

Personal story
I am a 17 year old school student from the UK. I followed Matthews story up till his final hearing, and when I found out the verdict of this hearing, I was motivated to do something about it.