Now the two Britons are asking the Norwegian police for help.
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The room looked like an office. The lighting was intense and clinical. The lights were always on, even at night. There were blood stains on the floor, and footprints on the walls, at head height.
Matthew Hedges believes the intention was to disorient him. This room, where he was kept in solitary confinement for six months, was located in the building of the United Arab Emirates’ Department of Criminal Investigation.
Here Hedges says that his psyche was slowly but surely broken down by Emirati police. Why he was kept there, he tells Aftenposten that he never got a good answer.
Claims he was tortured
Hedges is a British academic who was arrested in April 2018 when he was in the Emirates to do fieldwork. It was the start of a nightmare that reached the highest political level in Britain.
Emirati authorities accused him of being a spy. While in solitary confinement, Hedges said he was questioned for up to 15 hours a day. He also claims that he was fed a “cocktail” of antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills, and that he was forced to sign a false statement.
The case received a lot of attention in British media. Hedges was eventually sentenced to life in prison for espionage. Shortly afterwards, he was pardoned by the Emirati president.
Imprisoned for wearing a football jersey
This week, Hedges was in Oslo to report the matter to the Norwegian police. Along with him was Ali Issa Ahmad, another British citizen who claims he was abused in the Emirates.
Ahmad was in Abu Dhabi in 2019 to watch Qatar play against Iraq in the Asian Football Championship. He wore the Qatari team jersey. What he did not realize was that Qatar at the time was in the midst of a deep diplomatic crisis with neighboring countries. In the Emirates, it was a criminal offense to wear clothes that showed the Qatari flag.
Ahmad says he was assaulted by security police who beat him and tried to cut off his suit. He says he lost a tooth and received several stab wounds. When he went to the hospital to have his injuries treated, he was stopped and questioned. This time he was imprisoned.
There, Ahmad claims that he was held for 20 days, without enough food and water and without being allowed to call the family. He also says he was forced to sign papers he was not allowed to see, until he was eventually released and sent back.
–Asks Norwegian police for help
That Hedges and Ahmad think Norwegian police authorities can help them is about one man.
His name is Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi and he is the Inspector General of the Emirate Ministry of the Interior. This means that he is responsible for the police and the security police and for investigating reports of misconduct.
Raisi is a very experienced policeman. Among other things, he sits on the executive committee of Interpol, the world’s largest police cooperation.
Raisi has now been nominated to become the new president of Interpol.
The election is to be held in Istanbul on November 23. According to the British lawyer, Raisi is the clear favorite to win. The process is secret and Interpol does not release the names of candidates. But according to experts it says between Raisi and only one other candidate, from Nigeria.
In recent weeks, Raisi has traveled the world to promote their candidacy. The British lawyer believes there is a chance that Raisi will also visit Norway. It will in theory give the Norwegian police the opportunity to arrest him, if an investigation is opened.
Arouses reactions
In March 2020 the UN alarm went off on the conditions in emirate prisons. Several human rights organizations have reacted strongly on Raisi’s candidacy.
Former British Attorney General David David Calvert Smith has written a report on the case. There he warns that the Emirates is trying to gain political influence in Interpol through, among other things, funding.
Aftenposten has tried to get in touch with Raisi through both the Emirati Ministry of the Interior and the embassy in Oslo, without getting any response.
– Difficult
State Attorney Frederik Ranke confirms that the police have received a request for an investigation from the British lawyer.
But he says it takes a lot for the Norwegian police to use so-called universal jurisdiction. This means punishing foreigners through prosecution in Norwegian territory for acts committed outside the territory.
– There are major challenges associated with investigating such a case. It will be almost impossible to balance the investigation without the Emirates’ cooperation, says Ranke.
– We were lucky
Both Hedges and Ahmad say they are still struggling with the aftermath of the experiences they had. They say it will feel like a mockery if Raisi is elected president.
– It would be to ignore justice and responsibility, says Hedges.
He emphasizes that their experiences are not unique.
– This is the top of the iceberg. We are the lucky ones. That we are both British citizens is a big part of the reason why we are here today.
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