A terrified daughter of the ruler of Dubai asked for help to be held “hostage” by her father in disturbing recordings that were released after her supporters lost contact with her.
Princess Latifa Al Maktoum whispered for help in a series of clandestine videos recorded on a phone that was smuggled into the “prison” of her villa in the Kingdom, the Free Latifah support group said.
“I am a hostage and this villa has been turned into a prison,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s daughter said in one of the BBC’s videos.
She filmed the videos in a bathroom “because this is the only room with a door I can lock,” she said.
“There are five policemen outside and two police women in the house and they can’t even go outside to get some fresh air,” continued Latifa, 35, adding that her windows were “closed.”
“Every day I am worried about my safety and my life. I don’t really know if I’m going to survive this situation.
“The police threatened me that I would be in prison for the rest of my life and I would never see the sun again,” she told the BBC.
Free Latifah says the princess is one of the approximately 30 children of Sheikh Mohammed, 71, who also serves as prime minister and vice president in the United Arab Emirates.
She has been held captive since her father captured her in a boat off the coast of India while trying to flee Dubai in 2018, Free Latifah said.
They decided to advertise his secret recordings after losing all contact at the end of last year, they said.
“Now the communication with Latifa has been interrupted, we are very worried about her safety and we believe that this was the right time to release in the press some of the videos that Latifa sent us,” said her cousin Marcus Essabri.
Dubai has always insisted that the princess was safe with her family.
But Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, acknowledged that she was “tricked” into helping to present that image when she was photographed with the princess after her return to Dubai in 2018.
Robinson told the BBC he was told Latifa was bipolar and did not ask her about her condition because she did not want to “increase the trauma” of her “condition”.
“I was especially fooled when the photos became public,” she said of the images used to “prove” Latifa was okay.
“It was a total surprise … I was absolutely amazed,” Robinson said.
Free Latifah called on President Biden to intervene and for the people to boycott the Kingdom.
“We need tourists to decide not to go to Dubai, and we need world leaders to force Sheikh Mohammed to end this grotesque charade and end a horrific period of parental and human rights abuses that have disgusted the world.” , said the princess’ lawyer, David Haigh, one of the group’s founders.
Sheikh Mohammed has long faced allegations of abuse.
Last year, a British judge ruled that the sheikh waged a campaign of fear and intimidation against his estranged wife and ordered the abduction of two of his daughters, one of them Sheikha Latifa.
The ruling came in a battle between Sheikh Mohammed and his estranged wife, Princess Haya, daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan, for the welfare of their two children.
Sheikh Mohammed is the founder of the successful Godolphin horse stable and is said to be on friendly terms with British Queen Elizabeth II.
In 2019, he received a trophy from the queen after one of his horses won a race at the Royal Ascot.
The government’s Dubai press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the Associated Press said.
With Post threads