London (CNN)The UAE says it is considering a request to pardon Matthew Hedges, the British PhD student handed a life sentence for espionage.
In a statement on Friday, the UAE ambassador to the UK, Sulaiman Hamid Almazroui, said Hedges’ family had filed a request for clemency with the Emirati authorities.
Hedges, 31, was sentenced on Thursday after a five-minute hearing, in a development that appeared to take British authorities by surprise.
