UK – Metro, December 02, 2024
Millions of people will be celebrating Eid Al Etihad today, the National Day of the United Arab Emirates that celebrates the formation of the country.
But sitting alone in Al Awir Jail on the outskirts of Dubai, one man will not be celebrating.
Although he speaks to them daily, British national Ryan Cornelius hasn’t been able to hug his family in four years – and he hasn’t walked as a free man in 16.
The dad-of-three, 70, was arrested in 2008 during a layover at Dubai Airport, and convicted of fraud in a case which has been deemed ‘arbitrary’ by the United Nations.
He served his initial 10 year sentence – but courts in the UAE extended it by 20 years in 2018, meaning he won’t be eligible for release until 2038.
They won’t free Ryan until he pays back the £372million loan from the Dubai Islamic State Bank, which he is accused of breaking the terms of.
The UK Consulate has visited Ryan constantly during his ordeal, but his family has expressed concerns about the UK government’s hesitation to intervene due to close economic ties with the UAE.
‘The government has no plan to do anything effective other than to make repeated limp expressions of concern,’ brother-in-law Chris Paget, 72, told Metro.
Chris claimed that when Foreign Secretary David Lammy made one of his early visits to the UAE, he ‘didn’t even raise Ryan’s case’.
‘They don’t really care about this. This is not what you do when you’re the minister of a government. You should be prepared to show toughness,’ he said.
