00:00The European Union and members of the European Parliament have become the very last hope
00:06for the family of this British property developer, Ryan Cornelius.
00:11Behind bars in Dubai for alleged fraud, Ryan's wife Heather is an Irish citizen.
00:16Along with his brother-in-law Chris, they hope Brussels can replace the inaction of
00:21the UK government.
00:22Days like today give me a bit of hope, so today is an okay day, but every day is really,
00:30really difficult.
00:31I wake up and I think, how am I going to get Ryan home?
00:3317 years is a heck of a long time to stay sort of mentally strong, to believe that one day
00:38you're going to come out of there, even though your jailers are telling you every day you're
00:41never going to go out of there, which is what they do.
00:45And how is he doing, Heather, and how is he being treated?
00:48Can he tell you that, or is he being listened on during these phone calls?
00:51The people that are running the prisons, they're not cruel people or anything like that, but
00:55it is a dreadful way of life, you know, you're shouted at to line up at 5.30 in the morning,
01:03you know, you get absolutely awful food, the same chicken and rice every day, six days a
01:09week, and I think eggs on Friday.
01:15He hardly ever gets outside, you know, maybe twice a month outside into fresh air, the rest
01:19of the time, you're in a concrete building with steel chairs attached to the floor, steel bed,
01:24you know, it's lit up 24 hours, you know, it's just very, very difficult conditions to deal with
01:33for a week. 17 years is unbelievable, unbelievable.
01:38This Irish MEP met with Heather and Chris during their visit to Brussels. Barry Andrews has promised
01:46to raise awareness about what he calls an appalling case.
01:50The UN Human Rights Council have very clearly said that this is an injustice, and he should never
01:55have been locked up in the first place, never mind have his detention extended. He's now past
02:00the age of 70. The rules in Dubai is that you should be released at the age of 70, but that hasn't
02:06happened. So there's something extraordinarily punitive about this ongoing detention, and Ryan
02:11has significant medical needs that are not being met during his detention.
02:16The plight of Ryan Cornelius may be raised at the June European Parliament plenary session
02:22in Strasbourg. Maeve McMahon, Euronews, Brussels.
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