"Hala Gorani Tonight" airs at 7 p.m. GMT/8 p.m. CET weekdays on CNN International.

(CNN) The wife of a British academic jailed in the United Arab Emirates on charges of espionage has spoken of her shock at his life sentence and accused the country of mishandling and misinterpreting his case.

Amid signs that Britain and the UAE are looking for a way out of the diplomatic conundrum, Daniela Tejada told CNN's "Hala Gorani Tonight" program Thursday that "the UAE should have the sensibility and the humanity to recognize that it has been a misunderstanding and that Matt has paid for someone's lack of judgment."

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Matthew Hedges, 31, a specialist in Middle Eastern studies at Durham University in England, was arrested by UAE officials at Dubai International Airport in May. He was held in solitary confinement for almost six months before being released on bail last month. Hedges and his wife have repeatedly denied the allegations of spying, but prosecutors insist the British academic confessed.

In her first TV interview since her husband's sentencing Wednesday, Tejada said, "It's not unheard of that governments -- in authoritarian regimes particularly -- misinterpret research as espionage work or as a threat."

She continued, "Matt, sadly, is the first person to endure such a travesty in the UAE as a Western academic, but it happens very frequently in other countries in the Gulf and it happens to Emirati academics."

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