UK Foreign Secretary asked to impose Magnitsky sanctions on UAE official for corruption and violation of human rights of Ryan Cornelius
11 February 2022
Rhys Davies and Ben Keith have filed submissions with the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office on behalf UK businessman Ryan Cornelius calling for the UK to impose sanctions on a senior UAE official. Ryan Cornelius has been held in a maximum-security prison in Dubai since 2008. Submissions sent on his behalf, set out how the 67-year-old British businessman has been the victim of state-sanctioned persecution of the most serious kind.
The petition sent to Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, presents evidence that Cornelius is the victim of a corporate raid in which assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars were seized. Mr Cornelius was arrested in May 2008, detained and convicted on bogus charges following a fundamentally flawed trial process. It is requested that Mohammed Al Shaibani, Director the ruler’s Court in Dubai, and one of the most powerful figures in Dubai, be designated for sanctions within the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 and the Global Anti-corruption Sanctions Regulations 2021.
The petition has been lodged at a time when Cornelius is profoundly unwell, having contracted tuberculosis whilst in prison in Dubai. Activist Bill Browder – who successfully lobbied US congress to pass the Magnitsky Sanctions Act - has provided support to Cornelius’ family and friends who instructed barristers Rhys Davies and Ben Keith to make urgent submissions to the FCDO. In light of his illness, his family and friends are certain that should UAE authorities continue to hold him in custody, Cornelius will die in prison, away from his homeland and away from his family.
The 35-page document is a plea for the UK government to hold those responsible for human rights violations against Cornelius to account. It stresses that imposing an individual sanction will send a powerful message that the UK both upholds human rights generally but is also prepared to act decisively to uphold the human rights of UK citizens who are abused in foreign jurisdictions.
Bill Browder, campaigner for global Magnitsky sanctions legislation says:
“The 30 year sentence in Dubai for Ryan Cornelius in order to seize his property, is a shocking miscarriage of justice that needs to be remedied. Since Dubai has kept this man hostage for 14 years already, Magnitsky sanctions are an appropriate tool to seek redress and punish their hostage takers.”
