German detainee in Dubai declares open hunger strike
A German citizen declares an open hunger strike, protesting his illegal detention in Dubai.
The German newspaper Bild said that the trip of Dieter Klush, 42, to Dubai ended in a horrific nightmare he had never imagined.
The newspaper stated that Klush was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for stealing the wallet of a sheikh from the ruling family in the Emirates.
While confirming that no documented evidence has been presented against the German citizen, the newspaper highlighted that he was arbitrarily detained in a prison of terrorism three years ago.
The newspaper added that Klush found that his last hope was to resort to an open hunger strike to stir the attention of German and international public opinion and attention, as a last resort to break free.
The UAE has a long record of arresting foreigners on fabricated charges and exposing them to torture and often keeps these violations highly secretive.
Among those cases is the British academic Matthew Hedges. They announced months ago that he “had no other option but to confess” during nearly seven months of detention in the United Arab Emirates on espionage charges.
The UAE pardoned Hedges from a life sentence in November after showing a video of him purportedly confessing to being a member of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and researching which military systems the UAE was buying.
In the video, which was sometimes inaudible and shown with subtitles that could not be independently verified, Hedges appeared to say he approached sources as a doctoral student. Britain has denied he was a spy and welcomed his pardon.
Hedges said in an interview, “The confession tape, from my understanding, because I haven’t seen it, (is) an amalgamation or it’s cut and edited from the many months of my detention as well as scenes from court under duress, under threats of torture and psychological pressure,” Hedges told Reuters in an interview in New York.
“There was no other option but to confess,” he added.
UAE authorities arrested Hedges, a 31-year-old academic at the University of Durham, on May 5 at Dubai International Airport after a two-week research visit.
Hedges was held in solitary confinement for more than five months. The evidence against him consisted of notes he wrote on his dissertation research.
Hedges said that the UAE authorities had asked him to “steal documents and information from the British Foreign Office” and that this shocked him.
Hedges’ research focused on sensitive topics in the UAE, such as the administrative structures of the security services, the tribal system, and the consolidation of political power in Abu Dhabi.
Hedges’ family described him as a dedicated researcher that has been thrown into troubles with the security and justice system in the UAE. As for the UAE, it portrayed him as a spy who obtained a fair trial for serious espionage crimes.
