Yup, have to agree with olster. Nice to see such compassion amongst my fellow human beings. If only stupidity was a crime.......the place would be far better with all the idiots in jail. Unfortunately, it isn't and a life sentence for it seems harsh. With the caveat that we probably don't have all the facts, there is no question that his actions were stupid. There is a massive leap from someone foolishly poking around a foreign country's security structures to someone who is here to undermine a state, or steal their state secrets. He was not convicted of doing phd research, but of spying.......that is a serious and massive leap. Surely a measure of investigation and due process would have revealed the truth. The state's only real proof appears to be a confession signed in a language that he does not understand and under some seriously dubious circumstances.
I think we also missed the point that the OP was trying to make.....sure, the UK should not try tell UAE how to run it's courts but the UAE is seeking to sell itself on the world stage. They should be judged by world standards. We all get better when we pay attention to critical review of our actions.