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.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
23 minutes ago
- The Independent
Hundreds attend solidarity gig in Dublin for Kneecap rapper
Hundreds of people have attended a music session in Dublin city in solidarity with Kneecap rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh after he appeared in court on Wednesday. Kneecap flags and logos hung from the windows in Connolly Books, which dubs itself Ireland's oldest radical bookshop, in solidarity with O hAnnaidh, Kneecap, and the people of Palestine. Pro-Palestine supporters criticised the decision by British authorities to bring a charge against the performer instead of focusing on the Israeli government's actions against the Palestinian people. O hAnnaidh, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig in November last year. Hundreds of Kneecap supporters greeted O hAnnaidh as he arrived at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Wednesday morning, alongside fellow Kneecap rappers Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh. During the hearing, his defence team argued the case should be thrown out, citing a technical error in the way the charge against him was brought. The case has been adjourned until September 26, when the judge will rule on whether he has the jurisdiction to try the case. At the protest session at Connolly Books on Wednesday afternoon, several artists played Irish traditional music in solidarity with Kneecap. Dubliner Aoife Powell, 19, said she came out to protest because she is 'angry' at the decision to charge an artist rather than focus on what is happening to the people of Gaza. 'I'm here because it just worries me that the fact that governments are focused on artists expressing themselves rather than the actual problem, which is obviously the genocide in Gaza,' she told the PA news agency. 'It's a little bit disheartening to see there's so much pressure being put on these artists to stop saying what they truly think and to stop standing on the right side of history. 'I feel like it's a distraction from what's actually happening. 'When a government tries to silence people, they should learn that they can never silence people. I feel like the public would get more angry at that.' Sean O'Grady is from Coleraine in Northern Ireland but has lived in Dublin for almost 70 years. 'I'm delighted with them (Kneecap), that they've done what they're doing, and they're getting plenty of publicity. 'The British government are crazy, I mean, what are they at? 'They're supplying a lot of the bombs, and a lot of the arms and ammunition to Israel to do what they're doing. So they should be ashamed of themselves instead of bringing in these people (to court) for stupid reasons. 'It's getting good publicity over there for the cause of the Palestinians.' Dubliner Dermot Nolan said he attended his first Palestine protest in 1967, and while he remembers horrific events such as the Vietnam War, the scale of death and injuries in Gaza is the worst he has ever lived through. 'I'm here because it's important to for two reasons – first of all, to show our intolerance of the genocide and slaughter that's being carried out by the US, Nato and Israel. 'The second reason is the question of civil rights. We're protesting about the indictment of a member of the Irish group Kneecap. 'It is a sign of creeping authoritarianism which is happening in all the western countries and most clearly in Britain.'
Daily Record
an hour ago
- Daily Record
Mob boss Mark Richardson 'biding his time' in gang war to 'hit back big'
The underworld feud reignited when private hire firm Capital Cars was targeted by thugs at around 3am on Sunday. Mob boss Mark Richardson has warned any retaliation for a series of gangland attacks on his criminal empire 'have not been ordered by him' as he is 'biding his time'. The underworld feud reignited when private hire firm Capital Cars was targeted by thugs at around 3am on Sunday. The firm went up in flames during the early hours before two men were subsequently charged in connection with the attack. The home of Stephen Rose, who owns the firm, was also attacked a few hours earlier, at 12.10am. It's claimed police were called when thugs armed with machetes arrived at the property. The feared group behind the attacks, Tamo Junto, claimed responsibility and issued a stark 'we're not going away' warning. A source told how the group, who have laid siege to Richardson's empire in recent months, are continuing to target anyone associated with the caged mob boss. However, Mr Rose has told the Record rumours about Richardson having any involvement in his company are unfounded. A second source, who previously revealed Richardson is remaining 'tight-lipped' regarding any retribution attacks, has since told Edinburgh Live how the 38-year-old is 'biding his time' and will deal with his enemies 'properly'. They said: "Richardson has apparently said any retaliation from his side is nothing to do with him and hasn't been ordered by him. He is biding his time and will do it properly, which is actually a dangerous move. "Richardson is smart though and has been one of the smartest players in all of this. He can sit and watch what is unfolding in front of him but will pounce at the right moment. Other people getting involved in this war are just children in men's bodies." Richardson took matters into his own hands during a long-standing feud with former gangster-turned boxing promoter Robert Kelbie in 2016. The pair came to blows before a funeral service in Portobello. At the time it was claimed Richardson and Kelbie exchanged words before a violent brawl broke out in front of shocked mourners. The kingpin was previously jailed for eight years in 2018 for his role in a major crime gang and was given another sentence of 18 months for leading police on a high speed chase through Glasgow before he was caught. Richardson is currently behind bars at HMP Low Moss. On Tuesday, we told how Richardson's younger brother Dale was reportedly attacked by thugs after spending the night at an Oasis gig in the capital. A video released by Tamo Junto (TMJ) referenced the attack as they wrote: "Did Dale enjoy Oasis?" followed by a laughing emoji. Richardson's underworld empire has experienced a wave of attacks since March as current and former associates have been targeted by the group, under the orders of Dubai-based Ross McGill, who was ripped off with fake notes in a drug deal. Carnage then spread across the capital and the west of the country as armed thugs attacked associates of Richardson and the Daniel crime clan with machetes and firebombed properties and businesses. Two homes were also damaged in the capital after being shot at my masked assailants. So far Police Scotland have made a total of 57 arrests as they continue to come down hard on those involved in serious and organised crime.
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Dublin Bus driver (63) beaten with metal object in random daylight attack, court told
A Dublin Bus driver was beaten on the back of the head with punches and a metal object during a "random and unprovoked" daylight street attack in the capital, a court has heard. Romanian national Ionut Christian Biraz (39), of no fixed address, who arrived in Ireland three months ago, was charged with assault causing harm to the 63-year-old driver at Beresford Place in the city centre and production of a weapon during the incident at about 2pm on Tuesday. Advertisement He appeared before Judge Brennan at Dublin District Court on Wednesday and was refused bail. Garda Katherine Ward cited flight risk and Mr Biraz's lack of ties to the State, the seriousness of the case and fears for public safety. She alleged that Mr Biraz used a metal implement and attacked the driver in a random and unprovoked manner for no reason. She said the Dublin Bus driver had been walking home after his shift and was "struck in the back of the head with a metal article, 12 inches in length, from behind". Advertisement The contested bail hearing was told that before the victim "registered what occurred, he punched him again to the back of his head from behind, which caused him to fall to the ground." The court heard that there were several people on the street at the time, and the officer said that it was fortunate that gardaí were in the immediate area. Directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions have to be obtained, and an additional charge could be brought, the court heard. It will be recommended that the case proceed to the Circuit Court, which can impose lengthier sentences. Garda Ward cited the level of aggression and violence used, adding that gardai had to use pepper spray to arrest him. Advertisement The garda said the driver suffered swelling to his head and neck and significant emotional distress and was "quite shook up" afterwards. The article used to strike him has also been seized. Ireland Man (43) charged with attacking Swiss tourist on D... Read More She agreed with defence solicitor Eoin Lysaght that Mr Biraz had the presumption of innocence and, about comments he made in his interview, English was not his first language. However, she informed the judge that an interpreter was present. In response to the garda's belief that the accused was planning to leave the country, Mr Lysaght said his client had no means after losing his job due to having no PPS number. Judge Brennan did not accept that he was a flight risk but refused bail on the other grounds. Mr Biraz, who listened to the proceedings with the help of an interpreter, was granted legal aid, and the judge also directed he gets medical attention in custody. He will appear again at Cloverhill District Court on Thursday.
