LONDON (Reuters) – The UAE signalled on Friday that a British academic jailed for life on spying charges could be freed after his family appealed for clemency.
Matthew Hedges was sentenced on Wednesday on charges of spying for the British government, in a move described as deeply disappointing by Prime Minister Theresa May.
“Mr Hedges’ family have made a request for clemency and the government is studying that request,” the UAE’s ambassador to London, Sulaiman Hamid Almazroui, said.
“Because of the strength of that relationship we are hopeful that an amicable solution can be reached,” he said.
(Reporting by Michael Holden and Alistair Smout; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
