World

Emirati officials claim convicted British academic is MI-6

26 of November 2018

FILE - In this undated family photo, showing Matthew Hedges with his wife Daniela Tejada. The 31-year-old British academic Matthew Hedges was arrested May 5, 2018, at Dubai Airport and subsequently convicted and sentenced to life in prison for espionage. The United Arab Emirates Ambassador in London Sulaiman Hamid Almazroui said Friday Nov. 23, 2018, that his government is studying whether to grant clemency to Hedges. (Daniela Tejada via AP, FILE),FILE - In this undated family photo, showing Matthew Hedges with his wife Daniela Tejada. The 31-year-old British academic Matthew Hedges was arrested May 5, 2018, at Dubai Airport and subsequently convicted and sentenced to life in prison for espionage. The United Arab Emirates Ambassador in London Sulaiman Hamid Almazroui said Friday Nov. 23, 2018, that his government is studying whether to grant clemency to Hedges. (Daniela Tejada via AP, FILE)

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Emirati officials have shown a video to reporters of a British national convicted for spying, saying he is a captain in MI-6.

At a news conference on Monday in Abu Dhabi, Emirati officials showed the video of Mathew Hedges, a 31-year-old doctorate student in Middle Eastern studies at Durham University.

The video, which Emirati officials did not allow journalists to record, shows Hedges describing himself as a captain in MI-6 during what appears to be a court hearing in the Gulf Arab country.

Another clip appears to show Hedges speaking to someone in an office and saying: “It helps the research to go in in an easy way.”

Then, Hedges is seen snapping his fingers and adds: “Then it becomes MI-6.”

Emirati authorities showed the video after coming under increasing international pressure over Hedges’ life sentence, handed down last week.