Several UK authors are reconsidering invitations to attend a United Arab Emirates literary festival after a British academic was jailed for life this week for alleged spying, with historian Antony Beevor, novelist Sabine Durrant, and BBC journalist Frank Gardner among those confirming their withdrawal.

Serious concerns about the safety of British academics and writers were raised after Durham University PhD student Matthew Hedges was charged with espionage and sentenced. He was in the UAE to conduct research for his thesis on civil-military relations in the region after the Arab spring, and has been held in solitary confinement for the last five months.

The Emirates Airlines festival of literature, also known as the Dubai Lit Fest, is the largest literary festival in the Arab world and is held each March. The event is sponsored by the state airline and is run by a not-for-profit body established by UAE prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.

UK authors on this year’s festival lineup include novelists Ian Rankin, Ambrose Parry and Jasper Fforde, historians Beevor and Peter Frankopan, and children’s authors Kate Pankhurst and Lissa Evans. The Guardian has contacted all of them for comment.

Beevor, who has attended the festival twice, announced his decision to withdraw from the festival in the Times(£) on Thursday.

He told the Guardian he had first voiced his concerns with festival CEO Isobel Abulhoul when Hedges’ case was made public in October. “I emailed her yesterday morning as soon as I heard the news and said, ‘I’m sorry for you and the festival but we’re going to have to do something. We can’t allow this to happen without doing anything at all,’” Beevor said, calling Hedges’ imprisonment “one of the most outrageous attacks on academic freedom we’ve come across in modern times”.

“I think it is terrifying. I don’t know why they have reacted in such a remarkably unimaginative way … One knows perfectly well that megaphone diplomacy is completely counterproductive in the Arab world, but it gets to a certain point when you’ve got to do something. You can’t let them get away with it,” he said.

Beevor called on fellow authors to pull out. “I do believe that authors should not go. Not out of anything against the festival, but that they shouldn’t even consider traveling to the UAE in these circumstances. I would also urge the general public not to go to Dubai for a holiday, because I think [that would] prove it is a very repressive regime. All its claims of being modern and open have been completely contradicted by this particular action.”

Thriller novelist Sabine Durrant told the Guardian on Thursday night: “I don’t see how in all good conscience I could attend if he was still in prison”, while Guardian journalist Keith Stuart said he had told the festival that he would not attend if Hedges was not freed by UAE national day, on 2 December.

Chris Brookmyre, who is writes under the name Ambrose Parry with his wife Marisa Haetzman, said they would both withdraw from their event if Hedges was not released. “We acknowledge the value of the Dubai Lit Fest in providing a vital platform for the free exchange of ideas, but could not attend the festival if Matthew Hedges remains in prison, and will therefore await the outcome of Thursday’s clemency hearing before making a final decision,” he said.

Children’s writer Lissa Evans and BBC’s security correspondent Gardner, who was due to appear at the festival to speak about his journalism career and his latest novel, also confirmed they would no longer attend in protest.

Frankopan said he was appalled by Hedges’ imprisonment. “I am appalled and condemn any attack on academic freedoms,” he said. “I am following this very closely and waiting to see what happens in the coming days before making a decision.”

The festival has been subject of criticism before, with the Think Twice campaign appealing to authors to reject invitations based on the country’s human rights record and the state airline’s inaction over climate change.

“As disturbing as the Matthew Hedges case is, authors invited to take part in the festival should be aware that the UAE government have been arresting, imprisoning and torturing innocent UAE academics, journalists and human rights campaigners on a regular basis since 2011. The human rights of UAE citizens should be no less precious than those of a UK citizen,” campaign organiser Jonathan Emmett said, citing the case of human rights advocate Ahmed Mansoor.

Antonia Byatt, director of writers’ free speech lobby PEN, said: “It must be up to individual writers to decide how they want to respond in these circumstances. We recognise that literary festivals can play an important role in the sharing of ideas, values and understanding across cultures. What is crucial is that writers speak out to protect human rights and freedom of expression where they are under attack.”

In a statement issued on Friday, festival CEO Abulhoul said, “We hope that authors would come to the festival to make up their own minds about the work we do and appreciate the benefits of always keeping an open dialogue.”