UK – Telegraph, July 14, 2025
Bloc passes resolution calling for release of Ryan Cornelius, who was convicted of bank fraud
The family of a British man who has been locked up in Dubai for 17 years have said the European Union is doing more to free him than the Government.
Heather Cornelius, whose husband Ryan is detained by the UAE, said Brussels had given her “hope again” after 17 years of failures by the Foreign Office to secure her partner’s release.
It came after the European Parliament overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for the immediate release of Mr Cornelius, and for the British Government “to take all necessary action” to facilitate that.
The resolution, backed by 511 MEPs, also criticised the charges against Mr Cornelius, 71, as “false” and a breach of international law.
Mr Cornelius was convicted of defrauding Dubai Islamic Bank in 2008, alongside two fellow expats, and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
At the end of their original sentences in 2018, a judge extended their sentences by 20 years in response to an application by the Islamic bank.
