Letter from a lady who is not married to a spy

Hi Anthony —

There is currently no law to protect British nationals abroad.

As a British citizen, you or your loved one could be away on a holiday, a business trip or visiting family and you could be arrested and imprisoned. There is no guarantee that the UK Government will step up to protect you or your family.

This gap in the law is how my dear husband Matt - an innocent young man, was detained last year in the UAE after a two-week research trip for his doctoral thesis at Durham University. He spent 7 months of hell, held in solitary confinement, in state-led extrajudicial conditions.

I’m writing to you now to ask you to sign a new petition calling for a law that could have helped stop Matt and I going through a year of heartbreak and separation.

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During his imprisonment, Matt was heavily interrogated without access to a lawyer, forced to stand shackled for up to 15 hours at a time, force-fed an unhealthy cocktail of medication without the consent of an independent medical assessment. As a consequence, he is still dependent on said medications today - a year after having been released.

In some countries they have a law which means every citizen has the right to protection if they are imprisoned abroad - this law might have been a life-saver for our family.

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At first I thought Matt’s situation was exceptional, but right now there are over 2000 British people imprisoned overseas - and there is no guarantee the Government will do anything to support them.

That’s why I am working with other families who have had loved ones unfairly detained, to launch a campaign calling for the Prime Minister to give UK citizens, like you and me, the right to protection - will you sign?

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Since we launched the campaign, we’ve had over 250,000 people sign our petition and those voices have helped us get national media and a commitment in Labour’s manifesto.

We’re trying to get a commitment from every political party, so that no matter who wins the election we know the next Government will do more to protect British citizens like my husband.

Thanks for reading,
Daniella.

Daniella

According to your husband

"For years, I had been researching the United Arab Emirates’ national-security strategy, a subject I was well versed in—I had previously worked in the country’s defense and security sector, often on the same topic as my thesis. Before leaving for the Gulf, I submitted my research plans to Durham University, where I was getting my doctoral degree. The school’s third-party risk-assessment firm found nothing sensitive with my plans and cleared me for travel to the UAE from both an ethical and a safety standpoint."

Call my attitude to life cavalier but for some reason I feel I have to say that I do not feel overly worried that there is no guarantee that the UK Government will step up to protect me or my family from being imprisoned for spying whilst visiting an undemocratic state to investigate their security arrangements . 

Thank you for contacting my about this clearly important matter.  It is obviously very important that Parliamentary time is spent passing laws to regulate what goes on in other countries.

Thanks again

Anthony Miller