UK – Independent, July 29, 2025
Ryan Cornelius has been in prison in Dubai since 2008 on charges the United Nations and the European parliament say are unjust
The family of an unjustly imprisoned Briton in Dubai have accused the Foreign Office of “treating them like dirt” after David Lammy cancelled a belated meeting to discuss how to broker their loved one’s release just moments before their arrival.
Wife Heather Cornelius and brother-in-law Chris Pagett spent three hours travelling to London last Tuesday for a meeting with the foreign secretary to discuss the case of Ryan Cornelius, the 71-year-old British businessman who has spent the last 17 years languishing in a Dubai jail. He is the longest currently detained Briton on charges understood to be unfair.
The father-of-three, 71, has spent his children’s lives imprisoned over an alleged £370m fraud. The United Arab Emirates says he illegally obtained a loan from the government-affiliated Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) by bribing staff members, but the United Nations says the charge of fraud is unjust. Last month, the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning his detention in “inhumane conditions” in Al-Awir prison and calling for his “immediate and unconditional release”.
The UAE says Mr Cornelius cannot be released until his debt is repaid, despite the DIB having seized assets from the British businessman exceeding £800m. Mr Cornelius accuses the DIB, which is chaired by a senior, non-royal government official, of being his “effective jailers”.
