Britain is failing citizens who are unlawfully detained overseas

RYAN CORNELIUSUAEUNMPUAE, a British businessman, was arrested in the United Arab Emirates () in 2008 and handed a ten-year sentence for fraud. At the end of that sentence he was taken before a judge and given 20 more years. He was physically prevented from going to court to appeal. Last year a panel found that and called for his release and compensation.Cue outrage from Britain? Hardly. Mr Cornelius’s own government has yet to call publicly for his release. Only recently did it support his family’s plea for clemency. Last month a group of British s and peers wrote to the new foreign secretary, Lord (David) Cameron, urging a stronger response. Mr Cornelius has been “shockingly let down by your department at every point of his ordeal”, said the letter. “At every stage, [the Foreign Office] appears to have been guided by the notion that acquiescing in the cruel treatment of a British citizen was a necessary part of maintaining a close relationship with the .”