Daniel Sanderson
Sun 3 November 2024
Matthew Hedges (L) and Ali Issa Ahmad (R) say they were unlawfully detained and tortured by the United Arab Emirates - GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP
British nationals who claim they were tortured by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are demanding that Scottish police arrest the president of Interpol while he is in Glasgow for its general assembly.
Matthew Hedges and Ali Issa Ahmad, who say they were unlawfully detained and tortured by the Arab state, have filed a complaint with Police Scotland against Major General Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, also a high-ranking official in the Emirati security services.
Dr Hedges, an academic who spent seven months in a UAE prison and was sentenced to life in jail after being accused of spying for the UK, said Police Scotland had a “duty” to act on his complaint and urged the organisation not to “roll over and cower”.
The Foreign Office was last year told to make a formal apology to Dr Hedges, who claims he was kept in solitary confinement and fed a cocktail of drugs while in detention, and for failing to spot signs of “potential torture”.
Mr Ahmad travelled to the UAE in 2019 to attend the Asian Cup football tournament, and claims he was beaten, cut and burnt by police officers who arrested him for wearing a Qatar football shirt.
At the time, the UAE and Qatar had cut diplomatic ties and public shows of support for the country were not tolerated by Emirati authorities.
The pair are calling on Police Scotland to question Mr Al-Raisi under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which means those involved in torture can be arrested and detained regardless of where the alleged crimes were committed.
Major General Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi is the president of Interpol and a high-ranking official in the Emirati security services - MONEY SHARMA/AFP
Dr Hedges was pardoned by the UAE in November 2018 and Mr Ahmad was detained between January and February 2019. The UAE has denied their mistreatment claims.
However, Dr Hedges told The Telegraph that Police Scotland had “more than enough evidence” to investigate and that it was an “opportune moment” for officers to interview Mr Al-Raisi while he is in the country.
The 92nd Interpol General Assembly begins in Glasgow on Monday and runs until Thursday.
“He is someone known to oversee this system of abuse and torture that does occur in the UAE,” Dr Hedges said.
“The idea that he’s the president of Interpol, or is here for this big conference, shouldn’t matter. There is a suspect here, and the Scottish police should act as if this was any other case.
“The Scottish police can stand among their international peers and demonstrate that they pursue justice, and are not an organisation simply to roll over and cower.
“They have a responsibility and a duty to do this. Anything else would be a dereliction.”
Dr Hedges and Mr Ahmad said they were still dealing daily with the trauma of their detention and alleged torture.
Dr Hedges said he remained dependent on medication he was forced to take, was still grappling with mental issues and was also impacted by the “false” spying conviction.
Mr Ahmad said the ongoing impact of his detention was “huge”, that he was on medication for mental issues, and that he still felt in danger whenever he travelled abroad.
He said: “They treated me so cruelly and with total disregard for my life. Since my release the UAE have done nothing at all to hold who did this to me to account.
“Al-Raisi instead comes here to Glasgow to parade around as someone who stands to end crime. Nothing could be further from the truth. He needs to be subjected to justice for his actions and failures to act.”
A similar investigation has been launched in France, where Interpol’s headquarters are located. The pair claim Mr Al-Raisi was summoned for questioning by judges but failed to attend.
Matt Hedges with his wife Daniela Tejada - Paul Grover for The Telegraph
Rodney Dixon KC, who is representing the pair, said the Scottish authorities had both the authority and a responsibility to “investigate and prosecute these very serious allegations of torture”.
He said: “He’s not the one who was in the cells torturing, but he was the one supervising those who were. He has the power to investigate all of these complaints and ensure there is justice, which hasn’t happened.”
Earlier this year, a claim for damages brought by Dr Hedges and Mr Ahmad against UAE officials, including Mr Al-Raisi, was dismissed at the High Court, after they claimed immunity under the State Immunity Act 1978.
A spokesman for Interpol said: “In relation to the allegations relating to Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, this is an issue between the parties involved.”
Police Scotland said: “We have received correspondence and it will be responded to in due course.”
He’s a wanted man accused of overseeing torture of Britons – now Emirati general is heading to UK
Tom Watling
Sun 3 November 202
Ahmed Naser Al Raisi is the director of Interpol (Ipixelpro)
British student Matthew Hedges was about to board a plane back to the UK from Dubai airport when Emirati authorities suddenly arrested him, accusing him of being a spy.
It was 5 May, 2018, and the PhD student had just finished a research trip for his doctorate into aspects of the United Arab Emirate’s foreign and domestic security strategy.
While he was there, an Emirati man apparently reported him to the authorities for “asking sensitive questions about some sensitive departments” and “seeking to gather classified information on the UAE”.
Mr Hedges was then accused of working for MI6 and "spying for or on behalf of" the UK government, a charge then head of the secret service Sir Alex Younger personally denied.
For nearly eight months after, the academic says he was interrogated for up to 15 hours a day, force fed a cocktail of medication, kept in a windowless room without a bed and denied regular access to the British embassy and his lawyers. He suffered panic attacks and was placed under intense psychological pressure, before being sentenced to life imprisonment.
Matthew Hedges with his wife Daniela Tejada (Daniela Tejada/ PA) (PA Media)
It was only after intense, although belated lobbying from the UK government, international outcry and a forced confession that Mr Hedges was pardoned and released on 26 November 2018, the country’s National Day. The UAE called it “gracious clemency”.
Mr Hedges said his ordeal left him with post traumatic stress disorder and insomnia. He still has to take drugs seven years later as a result of being force fed medication.
Two months after Mr Hedges was pardoned, UAE authorities detained another Briton, Ali Issa Ahmad, then 26. The Sudanese-born football fan was arrested in January 2019 after being accosted by security officials for wearing a Qatar football shirt, not knowing that doing so is an offence in the UAE punishable with a large fine and an extended jail sentence.
For around three weeks, he says he was beaten, cut and burnt by police officers, and detained in a security facility. While in detention, he was electrocuted, beaten, and repeatedly deprived of food, water, and sleep. An attempt was made to kill him by stabbing.
“I thought that was going to be my last moments,” he says.
UAE officials claimed Mr Ahmad had harmed himself and charged him with making false statements, and wasting police time. He was convicted without any fair trial, then released on 12 February.
Ali Issa Ahmad, left, and Matthew Hedges were both detained in the UAE (AP)
Their cases are just two of “numerous” allegations against the UAE state security system of abuse and torture of prisoners, irrespective of their innocence.
Joey Shea, a researcher for Human Rights Watch who focuses on the UAE and Saudi Arabia, says the allegations they have documented include forced disappearance, prolonged solitary confinement, torture, physical assault, abuse and the use of extremely loud music to stop prisoners from falling asleep.
On Monday, the man responsible for the state security services and police forces that reportedly carried out this torture, and has since allegedly failed to investigate the two cases, will arrive in the UK.
Mr Hedges and Mr Ahmad are demanding that he is arrested.
Major General Ahmed Naser Al Raisi, who was educated at the University of Cambridge and received a doctorate from London Metropolitan University, will touch down in Glasgow on Monday for the annual general assembly of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol).
He is the organisation’s director, having been elected in November 2021 despite significant protest. Four years previously, the UAE donated $54 million (£42m) to Interpol, almost equivalent to the required contributions of all the organisation’s 195 member countries in 2020, which amounted to $68m.
Ms Shea says the appointment was a blatant “part of the UAE’s broader strategy to whitewash its reputation and human rights record”.
“His position in that role says a lot about how much Interpol is concerned with human rights,” she adds.
Mr Raisi was summoned to appear before a French judge to be questioned in 2023 (AP)
Three months after the appointment, French prosecutors opened a preliminary inquiry into torture and acts of barbarism allegedly committed by Mr Raisi in relation to the cases of Mr Hedges and Mr Ahmad. The UAE has previously denied the allegations.
After Mr Raisi appeared in Lyon, where Interpol is headquartered, the major general was summoned to appear before a French judge to be questioned in June 2023.
He failed to show up for that date. A day later, the judge resumed interviews with the two Britons, and further evidence was provided to help prosecute the Interpol director.
If he visits France again, the judge may request to compel him to give his testimony. Beyond that, they could seek an international arrest warrant.
But ahead of Mr Raisi’s arrival in Glasgow, Mr Hedges and Mr Ahmad are demanding that the Scottish police follow suit and open their own investigation.
“The torture I suffered, the sets of abuses that others have gone through in the UAE, is ultimately under Mr Raisi’s guide,” says Mr Hedges. “Any failings that occur, he is the person that oversees that.”
The pair have submitted a criminal complaint with supporting evidence to the Scottish police against Mr Raisi. It has been filed under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which enables states to arrest and prosecute those involved in torture who are on their territory, regardless of where the crimes are committed.
Rodney Dixon KC, Temple Garden Chambers, London and The Hague, who acts for Mr Hedges and Mr Ahmad, says they believe the evidence submitted “shows [Mr Raisi’s] responsibility for both cases” given his role as inspector general of the interior ministry since 2015.
It includes medical evidence of what happened to both men and issues they are still grappling with.
The purpose of the complaint is two-fold, says Mr Dixon. It aims to show Mr Raisi’s “complicity” in the initial acts of torture and his subsequent “command responsibility” for failing to investigate those acts when the UK Foreign Office issued a formal complaint to the UAE about the two men’s cases.
Ms Shea says beyond the two British cases, she has “received no indication that any allegations have been investigated” by Mr Raisi’s office.
For Mr Hedges, though, the pain of his treatment has for years been worsened by the inaction of the UK government. The Foreign Office may have filed a complaint, but they were forced to apologise to Mr Hedges after a lengthy review for the way they handled his case.
Despite that, the British police have declined to investigate Mr Raisi, which is why, according to Mr Dixon, they are now issuing a complaint to the Scottish police.
“The UK government knows what happened to me,” says Mr Hedges. “How could they know what’s happened and yet still simply let this legal process go by them? Inaction is not an option.”
The Independent has approached Interpol for comment.
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