Freed British academic Matthew Hedges has revealed his horror of seeing a torture victim's footprints on the wall of his Dubai jail cell in his first TV interview since his release.
Matthew Hedges, 31, was sentenced to life in prison in the UAE after his arrest on May 5 at the end of a two-week research trip.
The PhD student was released after months of torment in December after a relentless media campaign by his wife Daniela Tejada and an intervention from Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Safely back home he revealed he was pushed to the brink of suicide after standing in ankle cuffs for whole days, being threatened with beatings, and force-fed drugs.
In his first UK TV interview on Good Morning Britain he said he wasn't physically tortured, but solitary confinement and being deprived of medication was 'a form of torture'.
Mr Hedges and his wife also revealed he is teaming up with Richard Ratcliffe for a solidarity carols service in Wesminster tonight as he faces a third Christmas without his wife Nazanin as she remains imprisoned on spying charges in Iran.
Asked whether he was assaulted, he said: 'Physically no. But with the medication, the solitary confinement - that felt like a form of torture.
'I actually heard people being tortured in the premises I was in.
'One time I went into another room and I saw someone's footprints on the wall upside down at about head level – you don't understand how that can happen if for any other reason apart from torture.
'I know they do torture people in the UAE and there's been examples in the last 10, 15, 20 years.'
'They threatened to illegally rendition me to an overseas military base where they would beat and torture me.
'I had two paths ahead of me. One of cooperation, they would say they would commute my sentence, that I would be fine, all I had to do was admit guilt and so forth. The other option were threats of physical torture and intimidation.'
He told hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid how weekly phone calls with his wife were his 'glimmer of hope'.
He said: 'At the start I was allowed a less than five-minute phone call. But after a few weeks I could speak to Dani on the phone.
'That was my glimmer of hope. I never wanted to upset the balance, because I would be looking forward to that phone call the next Thursday.'
In his first UK TV interview on Good Morning Britain, Matthew Hedges and his wife Daniela Tejada said he wasn't physically tortured but solitary confinement felt like it
He added that the days after he was given a life sentence were like being 'down the end of a black hole'.
He said: 'Solitary confinement is such a hard ordeal, such a hard punishment to face.
'The next few days weren't fun at all. They were tough, really tough.
'I didn't know what to think for days. On that weekend I had suicidal thoughts. Nothing made sense at all.'
His wife Daniela told the programme she worried her intense media campaign could make things worse for her husband.
She said: 'I had this fear throughout the whole six or seven months.
'The second I went public, I really did it because Matt was being taken to court.'
Matthew Hedges, 31 (pictured today on Good Morning Britain) was sentenced to life in prison in the UAE after his arrest on May 5 at the end of a two-week research trip
Asked how she processed the ordeal, she added: 'No one ever prepares you for it.
'To see your husband sentenced to life in prison. It was probably the hardest moment I've ever had to live.
'I've always been strong and resilient, but those few hours after the sentence were complete madness. I genuinely didn't know what else I could do. I was desperate.'
And on life back in the UK with her husband she said: 'I don't think either of us have been able to process it.
'It was very traumatic for the two of us. For our friends and family, for Matt's colleagues in academia.
'The months of wait not knowing what we could do for help.
'Our lives aren't back yet. We're still trying to clear his name.'
The pair revealed they are teaming up with Richard Ratcliffe, who is facing a third Christmas without his wife Nazanin while she is detained on similar spying charges in Iran.
Mr Hedges and his wife revealed they are teaming up with Richard Ratcliffe, who is facing a third Christmas without his wife Nazanin (pictured) while she is detained on similar spying charges in Iran
The couple will join a carol service at Downing Street tonight in support of Richard Ratcliffe, who is facing a third Christmas without his wife Nazanin - imprisoned in Iran on spying charges.
Daniela said: 'There is hope. And I think the whole point of tonight is to not just give Richard and Nazanin hope, but the families of many victims of arbitrary imprisonment abroad to let them know they're not alone and they're not forgotten.'
She added before the end of the interview: 'We are very grateful to Jeremy Hunt, his intervention was critical.'
In an earlier radio interview with the BBC's Today programme Mr Hedges explained he was told to spy on the UK.
He said: 'They propositioned me to steal official documentation from the Foreign Office, and so I had a panic attack. And I said 'listen, even if I wanted to I couldn't.
'I don't work for the Foreign Office - I don't know how you think this would be possible'. And that's how that process went downhill quite quickly.'
Baby Gabriella is pictured with her mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and father Richard before she was jailed in April 2016
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News Pictures Durham academic Matthew Hedges detained in Dubai on GMB on prison ordeal
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