UK – Mirror, Aug 11, 2026
A group of United Nations experts last month called on the United Arab Emirates to release Ryan Cornelius, 72, ‘without delay’ after he was sentenced to another 20 years
The United Nations is calling for the release of a British dad detained in a Dubai jail on controversial fraud charges after he was sentenced to die behind bars.
Businessman Ryan Cornelius was arrested in the United Arab Emirates in 2008 and controversially jailed in 2010 after being charged with defrauding the Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) and sentenced to spend 10 years at the notorious Al Awir Prison. His initial sentence should have ended eight years ago, but it was extended when he was due for release in 2018 to a further 20 years, and now the 72-year-old won’t see his freedom until he’s 84.
The order, dubbed a “death sentence” by critics, will mean Ryan likely spends the rest of his life behind bars without having seen his family for nearly 20 years, missing key milestones for his children and, his wife revealed, the birth of his first grandchild.
The UN has now called on the Emirati government to release Ryan “without delay” after finding the additional 20-year sentence was imposed following proceedings “marred by serious judicial irregularities”.
A group of seven UN experts, including the organisation’s Special Rapporteur on torture Alice Jill Edwards, called on the UAE to release Ryan given he had completed the original sentence he was handed in 2018.
The group concluded: “We call on the Emirati Government to release Mr Cornelius without delay. He completed his original prison sentence in 2018. Yet he remains behind bars following a 20-year extension imposed in proceedings marred by serious judicial irregularities. His detention has already been found to be arbitrary by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.”
