“In response to media reports about Sheikha Latifa, we want to thank those who have expressed concern for her well-being, despite coverage that certainly does not reflect the real position,” her family said in a statement, according to the UAE Embassy. (UAE) in London.
In secret recordings obtained by the BBC and shared with CNN, the daughter of the billionaire governor of Dubai claimed that she is being held hostage in a “villa turned into a prison” without access to medical care.
The declaration of the royal family does not meet the requirements of the United Nations and the United Kingdom for the UAE to provide proof of the life of the sheikh.
In her statement, her family said that “Her Highness is cared for at home, supported by her family and medical professionals.”
“It continues to improve and we hope it will return to public life at the right time,” the document added.
Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum – the daughter of UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – was last seen in public in March 2018 aboard a yacht off the coast of India, before a raid by Indian and Emirate forces she goes back to Dubai, according to two people who helped her plan her escape.
It was her second failed attempt to flee abroad after previously trying to leave the UAE in 2002 as a teenager.
In one of the videos, Princess Latifa says, “I’m a hostage. This villa has been turned into a prison. All the windows are closed, I can’t open any windows … I was alone, isolated. No access to medical care, no trial, no fee, nothing. “
Princess Latifa herself recorded the videos on a mobile phone while hiding in a locked bathroom, according to the BBC. The documentary says that about a year after Latifa was taken back to Dubai, her friend Tiina Jauhiainen was contacted by someone who helped the couple secretly reconnect.
Jauhiainen managed to receive a phone call to Latifa and since then the princess has recorded many video messages “describing her captivity in a villa transformed into a prison with closed windows”, according to a BBC press release.
“BBC Panorama independently checked the details of the place where Latifa was being held hostage. She was guarded by about 30 police officers, who worked in rotation, both inside and outside the villa. The location is just a few meters from “It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.”
In another video presented in the documentary, Latifa says: “I have been here since then, for more than a year in isolation. No access to medical care, no trial, no fees, nothing … Every day I am worried about safety and the police threaten to never see the sun again. I’m not safe here. “
Caroline Faraj of CNN in Dubai, Mostafa Salem of Abu Dhabi and Sarah Dean of London contributed to the report.