Daniela Tejada speaks of the desperate six months she has spent trying to free her British husband from jail in UAE

Two days after her husband was sentenced to life in prison, Daniela Tejada shrugs her shoulders in resignation when asked if there is a chance for clemency, a chance he could be pardoned.

Tejada’s hopes have been repeatedly shattered over the past six “nightmarish” months and, possibly in an act of self preservation, she cannot bring herself to raise them all over again. For the moment, although there is growing diplomatic optimism that a deal will be struck, she remains sceptical.

On Thursday morning, Tejada landed in the UK, a day after after witnessing her husband Matthew Hedges being sentenced to life in prison. The Durham University student had been in the country researching his PhD thesis when he was arrested. In a matter of five minutes, judges in a United Arab Emirates court told him he was being detained for life on charges of espionage, having been accused of spying for the British foreign intelligence service, MI6.

Hours after the sentencing, and fearing for her own safety, Tejada flew back to the UK and since then has been talking to journalists, officials and the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to plead for Hedges’ release.

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In a south London cafe on Friday morning, Tejada spoke moments after the UAE’s ambassador to the UK, Sulaiman Almazroui, said his government was considering an appeal, but also claimed there was “compelling evidence” against Hedges and defended the process under which the 31-year-old was convicted.

Tejada became emotional, shaking her head: “There was certainly no due process in Matt’s case. The ambassador said this is a rare case and many researchers are able to undergo academic research in the UAE without encountering any problems. This is not true.” The strain of having to navigate a bureaucratic minefield for months was visible.

On 5 May, Tejada was at the home she shares with Hedges in Exeter, having spent the previous day planning a barbecue with friends to celebrate the royal wedding. At 6am she received a “frantic” phone call from Hedges’ mother in Dubai. “She went to drop him off at the airport and she saw him getting detained and she called me immediately afterwards, naturally in absolute despair, not knowing what to do.”

Within the hour, Tejada was on the phone to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, but to her surprise she was told they would not be able to do anything until they received an official report from the UAE authorities, which could take up to 48 hours. The days stretched into weeks, and still no word came.

Eventually, Hedges’ mother received a phone call from him which lasted less than two minutes, but at least let them know he was alive.

A desperate and increasingly frustrated Tejada flew out to the UAE to plead with the authorities to give her information about where her husband was being kept.

Almost three months after his arrest, Tejada was given permission to meet Hedges for 45 minutes at the police headquarters in Abu Dhabi. His appearance had completely changed; he was shaking and pale, having seen no sunlight in months.

“My heart really broke into a million pieces,” she said. “It sounds like a cliched expression, but he wasn’t the Matt that I fell in love with. He was very scared. It was evident to me that, above all things, he was absolutely broken by such an intense period of isolation and what he described as a very tough interrogation.”

Hedges had been kept in solitary confinement, sleeping on the floor, and had been allowed to shower only once a fortnight.

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After this meeting there were conversations with many officials, including Alistair Burt, the minister for the Middle East, and Ben Bradshaw, the MP for Exeter, but still Hedges remained in prison.

Then, almost as suddenly as he was detained, Hedges was told he was free to go. The news was given at a court hearing on 29 October on the proviso that Hedges wore a tag and remained in the country until his next court date on 21 November.

Tejada, who was in the UK, said: “It was the first day since he got detained that I decided to take a break and I was ready to take my first nap in nearly six months when I got a call on my mobile from a UAE number and he said: ‘Danny, this is going to sound really weird, but I’m in a cab on my way to Dubai.’ I was absolutely shocked.”

Tejada flew back to the UAE and spent two weeks with her husband before he was taken away again. She last spoke to her husband in a five-minute phone call on Thursday night.

“He called me completely unexpectedly. He didn’t sound very well and his voice was shaking and I could tell he was about to cry, if not already crying.”

For Tejada, things feel back to square one, “back to that first week of uncertainty, of not knowing what was happening and how he was being treated”.

But, she said, she would not give up. “I remain hopeful that the UAE will be able to see that Matt is innocent. I know it is often too easy to belittle the wife, particularly if she is a 27-year-old woman, but I most sincerely hope they know that he is not a spy, that he had nothing but the best intentions.”