The newly introduced messaging App, ToTok, created by the UAE and downloaded by millions of users worldwide is being used by the Emirates' government "to track every conversation, movement, relationship, appointment, sound and image of those who install it on their phones", according to a New York Times investigation. "The UAE bans any messaging service they cannot monitor," says Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai, "Cybercrime laws in the country make it possible to pro

Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai, who have been actively pushing for the release of British academic Matthew Hedges, commented today on the pardon just issued by the UAE government: “We are happy that Matthew Hedges has been released, but let us be clear, the UAE is trying to get themselves off the hook by issuing this pardon; they are asking for clemency, not granting it. “Matthew should never have been arrested; never should have been forced to sign a false confessi

Statement from Radha Stirling (CEO of Detained in Dubai): "The announcement that Matthew Hedges has been sentenced to life imprisonment in Abu Dhabi has sent shockwaves through the British and international community as well as the academic community who I have advised to suspend research trips to the Emirates. UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the press he was 'deeply shocked and disappointed', adding that Wednesday's sentencing was 'not what London expected from an all

British citizen, and PhD student Matthew Hedges, 31, was arrested last May at Dubai airport as he sought to return to the UK after a research trip for his doctoral thesis at Durham University. He was transferred to an undisclosed detention facility in Abu Dhabi, accused of “spying for a foreign agency”. Matthew has been held mostly incommunicado ever since, and is facing allegations of violating the UAE’s national security. “Matthew is a respected academic and researcher,” sa