A British academic who was kept in solitary confinement in the United Arab Emirates for almost six months after being accused of spying has lodged a legal complaint with the UN over his treatment.

Matt Hedges, a Durham University PhD candidate, went to the UAE for two weeks to research his thesis but was arrested at the airport and spent months in a windowless state security office, being regularly threatened with torture and interrogated for up to 15 hours a day. He was accused by the UAE of espionage on behalf of MI6 and forced to record and sign a confession.

Hedges has alleged he was regularly interrogated and subjected to degrading and inhuman treatment including threats of torture if he did not comply. He claims he was made to sleep on the floor and not allowed to see daylight, and was forced to take drugs such as Xanax. He says he is is now dependent on this medication.

“My nightmare did not come to an end the day that I was released; I can’t bring myself to describe the daily bouts of anxiety, sleepless nights and deep episodes of depression that have resulted from my seven months of hell in the UAE,” he said.

“I was simply doing legitimate academic research and now I have to carry the weight of the torture that I endured and of the false conviction that was given to me. I want to have hope in humanity – to know that justice can be achieved – and to move on with my life and focus on my future.

“No one, let alone an innocent person, should have to go through what I did, and I can only hope that complaints like this make the UAE reconsider the human rights abuses that have become a regular feature of life in the country, especially for those other innocent people still in detention there.”

In a letter to the UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, his lawyer, Rodney Dixon QC, said Hedges’ treatment in the UAE breached his human rights and he was coerced into making a confession in “fundamentally unfair proceedings”.

Dixon added: “The UN working group on arbitrary detention has the power to investigate Matthew’s arbitrary detention and make findings about the very serious violations of his most basic rights. It should not be allowed to stand and stain his reputation for life.

“The FCO [Foreign and Commonwealth Office] should be striving to clear Matthew’s name, but are refusing to get involved. We trust that the UN will come to Matthew’s aid and safeguard his human rights.”

Last week, a British football fan from Wolverhampton, Ali Issa Ahmad, who says he was detained and tortured while on holiday in the UAE because he wore a Qatar shirt, also lodged a similar complaint to the UN.

He alleges he was tortured at the hands of UAE authorities in January and February while visiting the country to watch Asian Cup matches.

Hedges was forcibly detained at Dubai airport on 5 May last year after a research trip to complete his PhD thesis on the Arab spring.

In November, he was sentenced at an Abu Dhabi court in a hearing that lasted less than five minutes, with no lawyer present. But after international outrage over his treatment and an intervention from the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE president, eventually issued a pardon days after he was handed a life sentence.

Hedges’ complaint also requests the UN take into account the alleged shortcomings of the UK government and the consular assistance provided to him. He claims the Foreign Office has failed to take any steps to have his conviction quashed.

An FCO spokesperson said: “Foreign Office staff and ministers, including the foreign secretary, worked incredibly hard on Matthew’s case. We were, and are, delighted he was able to return to the UK to be reunited with his wife Daniela and his family in December 2018.

“The foreign secretary personally raised Matthew’s case on multiple occasions at senior levels within the Emirati government, he met Daniela during Matthew’s detention and both Daniela and Matthew after his release.”