Woman whose husband is detained in Dubai meets with TDs and Senators
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.
Sir William Browder (left) and the family of Ryan Cornelius, his Irish wife Heather and brother-in-law Chris Pagett arrive ahead of a meeting with politicians at Leinster House in Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA)
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.
Advertisement
'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.
Advertisement
'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.
Advertisement
'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.'
Heather Cornelius, the wife of Ryan Cornelius, speaking to a PA journalist as she arrives ahead of a meeting with politicians at Leinster House in Dublin. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA.
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.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BreakingNews.ie
31 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Seventh possible ID emerges for 'Unknown Unknown' defendant
A seventh possible identity has emerged for an unsuccessful asylum seeker claiming to be from Palestine and Jordan, and who continues to be named only in court as "Unknown Unknown". The accused, who had no identity documents, is accused of obstructing a drug search on Monday at Store Street in the city centre. Advertisement He appeared before Judge John Brennan at Dublin District Court on Tuesday when the investigating officer, Garda Oisín O'Toole, raised concerns over six different names and five dates of birth given by the man. He was remanded in custody for further enquiries, and the case resumed on Thursday. Garda O'Toole said in the intervening days, a man claiming to be a friend of the accused turned up at Store Street station and tried to convince officers that the accused used a specific name. Judge Brennan heard that the garda also contacted the International Protection Office in Dublin about a public service card number the accused had when arrested. Advertisement As a result, he was furnished with images and details from a passport with another name, but he remained uncertain whether the accused was the man in the picture. Judge Brennan remanded "Unknown Unknown", who did not address the court, in continuing custody to appear again at Cloverhill District Court next Thursday while gardaí and his solicitor continue to establish his real name. His solicitor, Paul Byrne, told Judge Brennan he had been "stonewalled" when he tried to make inquiries at the IPAS centre about his client. On Tuesday, the court heard that he claimed to have stayed in accommodation outside Dublin, in centres in Mullingar and Arklow. Advertisement Garda O'Toole had said that while held at Store Street station, the man was provided with an interpreter to assist him over the phone, but he still refused to give basic information. The court heard that he kept changing his dates of birth, names and nationalities. The Garda National Immigration Bureau had no record of the details he provided. The man, who has been granted legal aid, did not give evidence during the bail hearing on Tuesday or Thursday and has yet to enter a plea. Ireland Man on way to US comic convention stopped at Dubli... Read More He had an interpreter earlier, but at his latest hearing, his solicitor described him as having "enough English to get by". He has stated that his client, in the early stage of these proceedings, had been in a panic and that the problem had been a lack of confidence. He had been here a year and had been unsuccessful in applying for asylum. The court heard he had a public service card, and on his phone, there was a picture of a manual handling certificate, in a different name.
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Man charged with sexual assault of two women at Donegal nursing facility
A man has appeared in court charged with the alleged sexual assault of two women at a nursing facility in Co Donegal. The man appeared at Letterkenny District Court before Judge Ciaran Liddy. Advertisement Detective Garda Bobby Carey gave evidence of the arrest, charge, and caution of the man at a location in Letterkenny earlier on Thursday. Detective Carey said the man made no reply when the charges were put to him. The man, who cannot be identified, is charged with two alleged counts of sexual assault against two different people at the same facility during different dates. The first sexual assault is alleged to have occurred at the facility between December 1st and December 31st in 2022. The second offence is alleged to have occurred between December 1st, 2022, and May 4th, 2023, at the same facility. Both charges are Contrary to Section 2 of the criminal Law and Rape Amendment Act 1990 as amended by Section 37 of the Sex Offenders Act. Garda Sergeant Jim Collins said the Director of Public Prosecutions has directed that the accused go forward for prosecution on indictment at the Circuit Court. Solicitor for the accused, Mr Patsy Gallagher, said Gardai had no objection to bail. Judge Ciaran Liddy adjourned the case until October 20th for the service of a book of evidence on the accused man.
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Man on way to US comic convention stopped at Dublin Airport with ‘anime' child abuse images
A young man travelling to a comic book convention in the United States was stopped by Homeland Security at Dublin Airport with child sex abuse animation images, a court has heard. Finley Bowd, 21, of Harbour View Close, Brixham, Devon, England, was arrested at Terminal 2 on Wednesday. Advertisement He appeared before Judge John Brennan at Dublin District Court on Thursday, where Detective Garda Rebecca Doyle said that the man made 'no reply' when charged with two offences under section 6.1 of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act. The shop cashier, who had been travelling to New York for a Comicon event, was arrested and had his phone seized. He is accused of possessing anime images of child sexual abuse and having category three child pornography anime images. Judge Brennan noted the involvement of Homeland Security, the US federal agency. He has not yet formally entered a plea and was remanded on €400 bail to appear again on November 6th next for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions. Advertisement Initially objecting to bail, because the accused was a UK national and a flight risk, she agreed to bail terms following exchanges with defence barrister Paddy Flynn. Detective Garda Doyle agreed with him that his client was making his way to a flight to New York and there was a 'random stop' at Terminal 2. The detective also accepted that Mr Bowd was cooperative. Contact has been made with a family member, and gardaí made enquiries with the UK, establishing he has not come to police attention. Mr Flynn stated that his client's mother would provide support, and he could be reached on her phone. The barrister also stressed that he would return to Ireland for court dates. Counsel said the accused was of limited means but had €400 on him, which the judge held could be used as his bail money and warned that he must provide a new phone number and until then be contactable on his mother's phone. Describing the case as involving 'difficult charges', Mr Flynn's application for legal aid, on behalf of his client, was granted.
