Latest news with #ChrisPagett
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
EU doing more than UK to help Briton detained in Dubai, says family
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. Chris Pagett, Mr Cornelius' brother-in-law and a Foreign Office veteran of 32 years, said the family's calls for support from the Government had failed because diplomats were attempting to protect their ties with the UAE. Mr Pagett told The Telegraph: 'It's not that we've given up. We're very much trying to engage the British Government, but the Government and the Foreign Office are clearly in a bind over this case, or over anything that sort of creates turbulence around what it regards as one of its key sort of foreign relationships, the relationship with the UAE.' One of the proposals put forward by the family, alongside Sir William Browder, the American-born English financier and political activist, is sanctions against Dubai officials involved in Mr Cornelius' imprisonment. Mr Pagett said: 'They [Dubai] should worry about sanctions, but they're clearly not worried. 'They know that the British Government will never dare to do it. They don't have that same comfort with the EU.' He said the European Commission had discussed an 'explicit link' between Mr Cornelius's case and a trade deal between the bloc and UAE. The EU Parliament's resolution will force top Brussels officials to also raise his imprisonment with counterparts in Dubai and Britain. This renewed focus on Mr Cornelius couldn't come at a more important time for the family, who feel like Labour has largely ignored them since winning power. Lord Cameron, the former Conservative, had given them hope, appearing to know the case inside-out when they first met and promising to put it at the top of his to-do list. This sense of urgency was extinguished when David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, took over, despite the family urging him to impose financial sanctions on one of the Gulf emirate's most senior officials. Mrs Cornelius described their first meeting with Hamish Falconer, a junior minister for the Middle East and North Africa, as 'devastating'. 'His opening words were: 'I can't offer you any hope',' she said. Shortly after Sir Keir Starmer met Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Dubai's president, he was unable to say whether he'd raised Mr Cornelius's detention, in response to a question in the House of Commons. Mrs Cornelius, an Irish passport holder, has turned to Brussels for help because of the apparent resistance of the British Government to assist. She fears her time left with her ageing husband is being stolen away from her because of his imprisonment. Her three children, now in their late twenties and early thirties, have already grown up without their father. 'We don't have very long, Ryan and I,' she said. 'I'm 65 and Ryan is 71, you see what little time you do have left when you get older.' The 65-year-old had spent decades trying to enlist the help of the Government and only switched tactics when it felt like her efforts had become futile. She said: 'We went to Dublin and Brussels in the last couple of months. And it's incredible, absolutely incredible, what they have achieved in that short time. 'They said to me, 'why hasn't the British Government helped you more?' They find it implausible. They don't understand.' She said it had become hard to 'hold onto hope' until the EU Parliament passed its resolution. 'It has really given me a huge amount of hope again, and Ryan, he just couldn't believe it, it was fantastic,' Mrs Cornelius added.
Belfast Telegraph
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
Woman whose husband is detained in Dubai meets with Irish politicians
Ryan Cornelius, 71, was detained for 10 years in 2008 as part of a bank fraud case, with his detention extended by 20 years in 2018. A UN working group has found he is subject to arbitrary imprisonment. His wife Heather Cornelius, who is an Irish citizen, met with TDs and Senators at Leinster House in Dublin on Thursday to raise awareness of his case. Mrs Cornelius said her husband has said the Irish embassy in Dubai are 'way more proactive with prisoners than anybody else'. 'They really are fantastic. We would just like to try and get some more people backing us and supporting us,' she told PA ahead of the meetings. Mrs Cornelius, her brother-in-law Chris Pagett, and human rights campaigner Sir Bill Browder, were due to meet with Labour leader Ivana Bacik, Social Democrats TD Sinead Gibney, and Independent senators Aubrey McCarthy and Gerard Craughwell. They are also expected to meet with an official from the Department of Foreign Affairs. Mrs Cornelius said she has tried to campaign with the British government to push for her husband's release but has received 'very little back'. 'It's very much to try and increase our campaign. The years are running out. 'I'd like to get Ryan home, and I am an Irish citizen, and I feel that the more people that I can bring my story and perhaps get a little bit more help.' Mrs Cornelius' Irish mother met her father in Co Down and they married before moving to Zambia, where she was born. She then went to Coleraine High School and Jordanstown university in Northern Ireland, now known as Ulster University. She said that of the 40 years she and her husband have been married, he has spent 17 years in prison. 'That's the most devastating thing. It has been all the way along, but now it sits even heavier on both our shoulders that he's lost all that time with his family, and he'll never get that back. But we do hope that we'll get some time together, a few years (where) we could be happy.' She said that her youngest child was six-years-old when her husband was arrested, and is now 23. 'It's completely devastated our family.' She said her husband has high blood pressure, several skin conditions, has contracted TB while in jail and has had Covid-19 several times. 'There are no easy things about being in jail in the Middle East. 'We talk every day on the phone, and we hold on to that hope.' Chris Pagett, who is married to Heather's sister, said he has been part of efforts to push the British government to help secure Mr Cornelius's release. 'This has been a cross we've all had to bear. We always live with hope there'll be a breakthrough, but even if there is tomorrow, it's 17 years we'll never get back,' he said. Mr Pagett said that Ireland and the EU 'represents really one of our main hopes'. As a former British diplomat, Mr Pagett said the case highlights 'a chronic failure to protect your citizens abroad from injustice'. 'I think eventually a majority of British people will become more concerned about it,' he said. 'This will become a political issue, because at the moment, it's isolated cases here and there. 'Certainly, the issue is likely in the world that we are now living in to become much more of an issue.' Sir Bill Browder said the British government has 'basically been totally inactive' and that 'anything is better than nothing'. 'Ryan is a British citizen, but the British government has pretty much left him to hang out and dry. 'Given that there's a connection to Ireland, we thought that perhaps the Irish would care more about one of theirs than the British do about theirs. 'We're going to Brussels in a few weeks to meet people in the European Parliament – and particularly the Irish members of the European Parliament – and we're here in Dublin to meet with the Irish parliament, and we're trying to find any way to get him out. 'This man should not have been in prison at all, but to serve 17 years and to have his entire life ruined over this thing, it's just unfathomable.'
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Woman whose husband is detained in Dubai meets with Irish politicians
A woman whose husband has been detained in Dubai for 17 years met with Irish politicians on Thursday to garner support for his case. Ryan Cornelius, 71, was detained for 10 years in 2008 as part of a bank fraud case, with his detention extended by 20 years in 2018. A UN working group has found he is subject to arbitrary imprisonment. His wife Heather Cornelius, who is an Irish citizen, met with TDs and Senators at Leinster House in Dublin on Thursday to raise awareness of his case. Mrs Cornelius said her husband has said the Irish embassy in Dubai are 'way more proactive with prisoners than anybody else'. 'They really are fantastic. We would just like to try and get some more people backing us and supporting us,' she told PA ahead of the meetings. Mrs Cornelius, her brother-in-law Chris Pagett, and human rights campaigner Sir Bill Browder, were due to meet with Labour leader Ivana Bacik, Social Democrats TD Sinead Gibney, and Independent senators Aubrey McCarthy and Gerard Craughwell. They are also expected to meet with an official from the Department of Foreign Affairs. Mrs Cornelius said she has tried to campaign with the British government to push for her husband's release but has received 'very little back'. 'It's very much to try and increase our campaign. The years are running out. 'I'd like to get Ryan home, and I am an Irish citizen, and I feel that the more people that I can bring my story and perhaps get a little bit more help.' Mrs Cornelius' Irish mother met her father in Co Down and they married before moving to Zambia, where she was born. She then went to Coleraine High School and Jordanstown university in Northern Ireland, now known as Ulster University. She said that of the 40 years she and her husband have been married, he has spent 17 years in prison. 'That's the most devastating thing. It has been all the way along, but now it sits even heavier on both our shoulders that he's lost all that time with his family, and he'll never get that back. But we do hope that we'll get some time together, a few years (where) we could be happy.' She said that her youngest child was six-years-old when her husband was arrested, and is now 23. 'It's completely devastated our family.' She said her husband has high blood pressure, several skin conditions, has contracted TB while in jail and has had Covid-19 several times. 'There are no easy things about being in jail in the Middle East. 'We talk every day on the phone, and we hold on to that hope.' Chris Pagett, who is married to Heather's sister, said he has been part of efforts to push the British government to help secure Mr Cornelius's release. 'This has been a cross we've all had to bear. We always live with hope there'll be a breakthrough, but even if there is tomorrow, it's 17 years we'll never get back,' he said. Mr Pagett said that Ireland and the EU 'represents really one of our main hopes'. As a former British diplomat, Mr Pagett said the case highlights 'a chronic failure to protect your citizens abroad from injustice'. 'I think eventually a majority of British people will become more concerned about it,' he said. 'This will become a political issue, because at the moment, it's isolated cases here and there. 'Certainly, the issue is likely in the world that we are now living in to become much more of an issue.' Sir Bill Browder said the British government has 'basically been totally inactive' and that 'anything is better than nothing'. 'Ryan is a British citizen, but the British government has pretty much left him to hang out and dry. 'Given that there's a connection to Ireland, we thought that perhaps the Irish would care more about one of theirs than the British do about theirs. 'We're going to Brussels in a few weeks to meet people in the European Parliament – and particularly the Irish members of the European Parliament – and we're here in Dublin to meet with the Irish parliament, and we're trying to find any way to get him out. 'This man should not have been in prison at all, but to serve 17 years and to have his entire life ruined over this thing, it's just unfathomable.'
