Latest news with #RyanCornelius
Irish Independent
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Heather Cornelius whose husband is detained in Dubai meets with politicians in Dublin
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'. She was accompanied by human rights campaigner Bill Browder and her brother in law Chris Pagett.
The Independent
08-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
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.'
BreakingNews.ie
08-05-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Woman whose husband is detained in Dubai meets with TDs and Senators
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. 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.'
Metro
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Metro
A British man has been kept in a Dubai jail for 17 years and we need answers
Sitting alone in Al Awir Jail on the outskirts of Dubai, British national Ryan Cornelius wasn't able to celebrate his birthday this year. The dad-of-three, 72, hasn't walked as a free man in 17 years. He was arrested in 2008 during a layover at Dubai Airport and convicted of fraud in a case which has been deemed 'arbitrary' by the United Nations. He served his initial 10-year sentence, but courts in the UAE extended it by 20 years in 2018, meaning he won't be eligible for release until 2038. They won't free Ryan until he pays back the £372 million loan from the Dubai Islamic State Bank, which he is accused of breaking the terms of. The UK Consulate has visited Ryan constantly during his ordeal, but his family has expressed concerns about the UK government's hesitation to intervene due to close economic ties with the UAE. 'The government has no plan to do anything effective other than to make repeated limp expressions of concern,' brother-in-law Chris Paget, 72, told Metro. Chris claimed that when Foreign Secretary David Lammy made one of his early visits to the UAE, he 'didn't even raise Ryan's case'. 'They don't really care about this. This is not what you do when you're the minister of a government. You should be prepared to show toughness,' he said. To bring his case back to attention on the anniversary of his arrest – the same day as his birthday – Ryan's family hand-delivered letters to Downing Street, urging the government not to forget his ordeal. Yesterday afternoon, with support from the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign, MP Tim Roca and Ryan's wife, Heather, the letters were delivered, urging Keir Starmer to meet Ryan's family. Ryan is accused of breaking the terms of a loan from the Dubai Islamic Bank, an accusation which was initially dismissed by courts in the UAE for lack of evidence. After a retrial, Ryan was charged with theft from a public body and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The court ordered him to repay the balance he owed from the loan, in addition to a £396,000,000 fine. His assets, including his home in London, were all seized in the process, meaning he's unable to pay it back. After serving the first portion of his sentence, Ryan was issued a 20-year sentence extension in May 2018, meaning that he will not be eligible for release until May 2038, when he will be 84. His sentence was extended due to a new policy, which states that unless the prisoner can settle the debt, they must serve another 20 years. A UN working group discovered in 2022 that his detention is 'arbitrary'. He is one of many Brits who are being held arbitrarily abroad. Tory MP Alicia Kearns, shadow minister for foreign affairs, said in October that there is 'now an industrialisation of taking British citizens as hostages for leverage in state-to-state relations'. The UAE defended Ryan's detention in a statement to Metro, writing: 'Ryan Cornelius illegally obtained a loan of £372 million, by bribing staff members at Dubai Islamic Bank. 'Following a fair trial in which all due processes were followed, Mr Cornelius was sentenced to ten years in prison, which was later lawfully extended as he had failed to repay the creditor (Dubai Islamic Bank) during this time, which is in line with UAE law. The whereabouts of the funds Mr Cornelius obtained are unknown.' Ryan's family were finally able to speak to Hamish Falconer, the minister for the Middle East, months after Labour entered power. Speaking with Metro, Ryan's wife Heather said: 'I came away from our talk with Hamish (Falconer) absolutely devastated. He didn't have a plan or a grip on the severity of the situation. 'I just thought, we're back to rock bottom. When I spoke with Lord Cameron, I had never felt so much hope before, and that was after 16 years. Labour or Conservative, this is really a deeply distressing human story, and they've got to do something.' Heather is able to speak with her husband once a day, but says he isn't as 'positive' as he used to be. 'Our focus has always been our children. We've always tried to be hopeful and positive and say that this is going to come to an end,' she said. 'But I've been promising my children for 17 years that their dad will be home next Christmas, and it hasn't happened. We've lost everything.' Ryan's eldest son previously told Metro that growing up without his father was 'devastating'. 'We're in quite a strange situation where he's not gone, but he's no longer part of my life,' he said. 'My dad was sentenced for one thing, and he was served a sentence and then the UAE created a new law and applied it in retrospect, essentially two sentences for one thing. 'That's not done anywhere in the world and it's completely illegal, infuriating and fabricated,' he said. 'Whatever their justification is, they've created it themselves to create a narrative and they do what they want because they have the power and we're just suffering.' For years, the UK Foreign Office's stance on hostage taking has long been not to 'negotiate with terrorists' or pay ransoms, meaning the prospect of the government paying Ryan's 'debt' is out of the question. The government's history of dealing with its citizens being wrongly imprisoned abroad is to provide consular support, but ultimately not ruffle the feathers of countries which has jailed UK citizens. A FCDO Spokesperson previously told Metro: 'We are supporting Ryan Cornelius and are in contact with his family and the UAE authorities. 'The Minister for the Middle East met with Mr Cornelius' family to discuss their concerns on 23 October.' Unlike other countries, the UK does not have a special envoy or office for hostage affairs or wrongly imprisoned citizens abroad. Ryan's case was raised in parliament recently by Labour MP Tim Roca, who serves as vice chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arbitrary Detention and Hostage Affairs. He pointed out: 'Our Atlantic allies, the United States and Canada, have learned those lessons, and created official roles to co-ordinate the response to state hostage taking and arbitrary detention in order to get their people home, which is, of course, a priority for all of us.' The UK and the UAE have a long history of friendship and trade. It's the UK's third-largest trading partner outside of Europe, behind the United States and China. Thousands of British nationals live and work in the UAE, and in the four quarters to the end of Q2 2024, the UK had a trade surplus of £4.3 billion with the United Arab Emirates. Despite the long friendship between the two countries, Mr Roca cited worries that the prolonged detention of Ryan would 'start sending the wrong message'. He said: 'I am increasingly worried that the continued arbitrary detention of Ryan Cornelius will start sending the wrong message to tourists, expats and businesses, potentially threatening our valued and historic relationship.' Bill Browder, who works with families of wrongly imprisoned people, told Metro: 'The only thing Ryan did wrong was go into business in Dubai. 'He's a British citizen who's been falsely and wrongly detained. And it should be at the top of the British foreign policy agenda with the UAE. The more outrageous the legal abuses, the more it necessitates the need for sanctions.' Ryan's brother-in-law, Chris, agrees: 'A bank has been given the power to keep somebody in prison until they die. This is beyond sanctionable. More Trending 'The UK needs an effective deterrent to protect citizens doing business in increasingly autocratic regimes like this.' Mr Cornelius is not the only Brit being held arbitrarily. Prominent international scholar Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu was arrested on July 23, 2023 in Azerbaijan, and remains under house arrest for 'possessing extremist material'. Dr Ibadoghlu was outspoken in his criticism of Azerbaijan's increasingly authoritarian government before his arrest, something which human rights groups have cited as a reason for his harsh treatment. Metro also delved into some of the thousands of women around the world who have been wrongfully detained for their activism by governments. MORE: Metro's Formula for Change campaign heads to Downing Street MORE: UK bans console controllers being shipped for Putin's forces to pilot drones MORE: Every country on the Foreign Office 'do not travel list' right now
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A British national overseas has been handed a death penalty in all but name
For 6112 days, Ryan Cornelius has woken up in a cramped, overcrowded cell in Al Awir Central Prison, meticulously documenting his almost 17-year ordeal through hushed daily phone calls. Each morning, he wonders if today will be different – if his own government will finally acknowledge his plight. Instead, he watches as they turn a blind eye, prioritising a chummy business relationship with his abusers. And so, he asks again, 'Has my country forgotten me?' As we approach the 18th year of Ryan Cornelius' wrongful imprisonment in the UAE, it is time to confront an uncomfortable truth: the UK government's record of choosing trade over aid, failing to protect its own citizens from the autocrats with whom it seeks commercial ties. Ryan's case stands as perhaps the most well-documented instance of human rights abuse of a British national overseas, coupled with a disturbing lack of meaningful action from his government. For 17 years – not a single individual has been sanctioned by the UK Government for their role in arbitrarily detaining Ryan. Ryan, a 70-year-old British businessman, has been detained in Dubai Central Prison since 2008, the victim of a false accusation tied to a real estate project he was developing. After serving his 10-year sentence and preparing for release, UAE authorities extended his imprisonment by 20 years, ensuring he remains behind bars until 2038. A death sentence in all but name. The United Nations declared his detention arbitrary in 2022, yet the British Government has ignored MPs' demands to sanction the bank's board. For nearly two decades, Ryan's health has deteriorated while his assets, both business and personal, were seized by Dubai Islamic Bank – the architects of his detention. Ryan's lawyers and MPs like Sir Iain Duncan Smith have repeatedly plead for action, but the Foreign Office's response remains a series of empty gestures: perfunctory meetings with the family, vague assurances about raising concerns 'at the appropriate level,' and a Prime Minister who set aside his professed commitment to the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and chose not to raise Ryan's case on his high-profile visit to the UAE last December. The UN had found that the UAE's treatment of Ryan had entailed eight separate violations of that Universal Declaration. Ryan is not just being held hostage by the UAE. He is being held hostage by British Government policy. The UAE's attempts to conceal their human rights violations are shameless. Recently, prison guards tried coercing Ryan into signing Arabic documents attesting to non-existent high standards of prison conditions – a ploy he refused. This attempt to gain a facade of legitimacy by creating a false narrative of humane incarceration closely mirrors the UK's own hypocrisy. The UK is in the process of finalising a long-awaited free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), of which the UAE is a prominent member, trying to inject growth into the UK's stagnant economy. While Ryan suffers, the UK cosies up to Gulf leaders, practically begging them to pour more money into the UK, ignoring warnings from human rights organisations about their human rights record. When UAE-owned DP World threatened to withdraw their £1 billion port expansion over UK criticism of unethical labour practices, Starmer quickly overruled his transport secretary, making sure the investment went ahead. This pattern exposes a harsh truth: the UK's condemnation of authoritarian regimes only seems to extend to adversaries. When 'friendly' autocracies dangle the prospect of inward investment, the noble principles disappear. The same ministers who bravely sanction Russian oligarchs for corrupt practices and the detention of British citizens, such as Vladimir Kara-Murza, have ignored repeated calls for similar measures on the Dubai Islamic Bank – not a government, or a state – but a bank that has been the driving force behind Ryan's arbitrary imprisonment. This country's abject failure to protect its own citizens from 'friendly' autocrats has been heavily documented in damning commentaries in the press. It has undoubtedly contributed to the steady decline in the UK's moral authority. But it is also profoundly wrong-headed, even if judged purely in commercial terms. Surveying the last twenty years, does anyone honestly think that this policy has made us economically stronger? Being seen by a foreign autocrat as weak in the protection of your own citizens will not earn you his gratitude: it will earn you his contempt. He will know that he can have the economic relationship on his terms. Our government would do well to understand this as it ignores its obligation to Ryan in pursuit of closer ties with a country which has no meaningful money-laundering controls, is awash with illicit Russian money and a safe haven for proceeds of crime. Is it too late for this government to learn that we become stronger when the world sees that we are prepared to stand up for what we profess to believe? Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
