British PhD student’s expertise in country’s defence could have led to his jailing, say academics

Matthew Hedges may have made himself a target because of his “clear, sharp analysis” of the shifting planes of the United Arab Emirates’ security politics.

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Academics who knew the University of Durham PhD candidate, who was jailed for life for alleged spying, described him as an expert on the UAE defence sector due to his work with various organisations in the country and time spent there as a child.

Kristian Ulrichsen, the author of The Gulf States in International Political Economy, had spoken with Hedges at length about his thesis and seen some draft chapters.

Ulrichsen, who was banned from the UAE in 2013 after publishing an article about its crackdown on domestic opposition, described Hedges as one of the “sharpest analysts” he had ever met.

Hedges had lived in the UAE “on and off” since he was nine. After finishing his studies at Exeter University, he returned to Dubai to work as a researcher for a thinktank called INEGMA (Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis). It focuses on the region’s military and strategic affairs.

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In 2014, he was joined in the country by his wife, Daniela Tejada. Hedges then went back to the UK and began studying for his PhD at Durham’s Hatfield College in September 2015.

During this time he helped to research reports on the Gulf region for three consultancy firms: Gulf State Analytics, Babylon Communications and Optimum Business Consultants.

Seattle-based Ulrichsen said: “He was the expert in that field. Matt was working in defence in the UAE, so he knew a lot about the sector as a whole.”

According to Ulrichsen, it was this in-depth knowledge that could have led to Hedges becoming a target and inadvertently putting him at risk of being considered a spy by the Emirati authorities.

“Matt was one of the sharpest analysts I have ever met. He knew the country inside out, which could easily have been seen as a threat by the Emiratis if they want to project an image internationally that isn’t questioned,” he said. “Matt knew all the right questions to ask, which clearly in a security-conscious environment makes him a target.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Matthew Hedges’ wife, Daniela Tejada, leaves the Foreign Office after a meeting with the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, in London on Thursday 22 November. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

Over the last few years, there has been a shift in power in the UAE, with a marked consolidation of power in Abu Dhabi, said Ulrichsen, who previously worked at the London School of Economics. Hedges’ thesis focused on this shift from shared power between seven emirates towards one, Abu Dhabi, being the dominant force.

“He was clearly well placed to write something that the Emirati authorities perhaps wouldn’t have wanted to see made public, especially since they are taking up such hawkish and interventionists policies in Yemen and elsewhere,” he said.

Others who are familiar with Hedges’ research have told the Guardian they believe he was looking into the relationship between the Emirates security services and the tribes it recruits from, which is regarded as being extremely sensitive information. Hedges had also asked questions, said sources, about Emirati casualties in Yemen.

Hedges had apparently interviewed around half a dozen people, including local academics, and recorded all his interviews.

One prominent British academic, who researches the region and asked not to be identified, told the Guardian he was amazed Durham University had allowed Hedges to go to the UAE and conduct such sensitive research in the current climate.

“I would never have approved someone going there to do research on this subject. It’s a red rag to a bull. No one sends PhD students to Egypt after Giulio Regeni’s murder. There’s a duty of care.”

Ulrichsen believes Hedges’ familiarity with the country and its people perhaps created a “false sense of security”. He said: “He is not some random student that hasn’t been there before, wandering off into the unknown. He had worked in the defence sector and was aware of all the sensitivities and all the red lines – so it was a shock and a surprise. He also knew many of the people he was interviewing. He knew them in a professional capacity from his previous work.”

Hedges was arrested on 5 May at Dubai airport after spending two weeks in the country. The UAE said the ruling would be subject to an appeal within a month.