DUBAI: The daughter of the ruler of Dubai, who tried to flee the emirate in 2018 but was forcibly returned, has asserted that she was being held “hostage” in a locked villa surrounded by police and fears for her life.
“I’m a hostage and this villa has been converted into a jail,” she said in one cellphone video aired on international news channels today (Tuesday). The messages have since ceased, and campaigners for Princess Latifa al-Maktoum are calling for international intervention in her case.
Sheikha Latifa has not been seen in public since an attempted escape by sea in March 2018. She is seen crouched in a corner of what she says is a bathroom, in clips that the BBC said was filmed around a year after she was captured and returned.
In the video, the Dubai princess said, “There are five policemen outside and two policewomen inside the house. Every day I am worried about my safety and my life.”
In another video, Latifa says her situation is getting more desperate every day. “I don’t want to be a hostage in this jail villa. I just want to be free,” she added.
In the messages, she detailed how: She fought back against the soldiers taking her off the boat; after being tranquillised she lost consciousness as she was being carried on to a private jet; she was being held alone without access to medical or legal help in a villa with windows and doors barred shut, and guarded by police.
The BBC released the video in its investigative news programme “Panorama”. The Dubai authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Latifa’s father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, is vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.
The undated videos were broadcast as Latifa’s friends voiced concern that secret messages from her have stopped coming. The videos came from Latifa’s Finnish friend, Tiina Jauhiainen, who accompanied her during her escape attempt.
