A British academic who was convicted of spying in the UAE was pardoned on Monday following international pressure over his release.
Matthew Hedges was arrested at Dubai Airport in May for alleged spying and handed a life sentence by a court in Abu Dhabi last week.
But those who know the 31-year-old say he is not an intelligence agent, and insist he was in the Emirates to do research on his PhD thesis.
This is what we know about Mr Hedges, who his wife Daniela Tejada called "innocent victim in all of this".
Who is Matthew Hedges?
Mr Hedges, who is originally from Exeter, is a 31-year-old student at Durham University studying the effects of the Arab spring on the gulf states.
But Mr Hedges has an established career in research and consultancy, and since 2016 has been an advisor for consultancy firm Gulf State Analytics.
Calling himself an "intelligence analyist", he also specialises in corporate investigations, due diligence and research, while his extensive research in the Middle East covers a number of topics.
He has also written a number of articles for publications including Defense News, Gulf States Newsletter, Military Balance, Defence Procurement International and the Middle East Policy Council.
Born in Surrey, Mr Hedges has spent a lot of time in the Emirates - his family worked there and consequently he spent holidays there when he was younger.
He worked in the area for a number of years and was well known among the "Emirati political elite" but according to the BBC could not read or speak Arabic.
His MA thesis from the University of Exeter was titled: "What has driven the UAE's military spending since 2001?".
Why and when was he arrested?
Mr Hedges was arrested at Dubai Airport as he tried to leave the country on May 5 following a two-week research visit.
The doctoral student is understood to have travelled to the UAE in April to examine the impact of the Arab Spring revolutions on UAE foreign and security policy, and to have interviewed people about this during his trip.
But two weeks later the UAE government arrested the academic, saying he had been charged with “spying for and on behalf of a foreign state” and he was reportedly held in solitary confinement for months.
At a hearing on October 24, a court-appointed lawyer insisted he was innocent, arguing that notes from his research did not contain anything confidential and the court should review them.
The court had agreed and postponed the hearing until Wednesday, November 21.
Mr Hedges had been freed from detention on October 29 and was staying in Dubai, with an ankle tag monitoring his movements.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt raised his case on a visit to Abu Dhabi on November 12, speaking to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed, and foreign minister Abdullah bin Zayed.
Mr Hedges was sentenced to life in jail on Wednesday, November 21. Prosecutors said Mr Hedges confessed to all the charges put before him but his family said the hearing lasted less than five minutes and his lawyer was not present.
Ms Tejada was allowed into the courtroom but a Reuters journalist was barred and it was closed to the public.
On Monday, Mr Hedges was pardoned following international pressure but the UAE said it still stood by the charge against him.
What has the UAE said?
In a press conference on Monday, UAE officials showed a video in which Mr Hedges appears to confess to being a captain in MI6 at a court hearing.
Another clip appears to show Hedges speaking to someone in an office and saying: "It helps the research to go in in an easy way."
Then, Mr Hedges is seen snapping his fingers and adds: "Then it becomes MI-6."
Officials did not allow members of the media to record the clip.
An official told reporters at the press conference in Abu Dhabi that Mr Hedges was "100% a full-time secret service operative" who was in the country "to steal the UAE's sensitive security national secrets for his paymasters".
What have his friends and family said?
Professor Stuart Corbridge, vice-chancellor of Durham University, said there is "no reason to believe that Matt was conducting anything other than legitimate academic research".
Ms Tejada has described the ordeal as a "nightmare" and rejects accusations that he is a spy, telling Radio 4: "In my heart I know he isn't".
