“In the summer of 2000, Shamsa escaped the family’s holiday home in England. She was 18 … and she was sensible,” wrote Princess Latifa, who also claimed to be being held hostage, in a letter sent to CNN by her friend David Haigh, an activist for his release and part of Detained International, a legal defense NGO.
“She was enslaved and oppressed and suffered physical abuse at the hands of family members … She wanted to apply for asylum in the UK, where she has a family living there permanently. After a few months, she was kidnapped … She was dragged from the street kicking and screaming. She was reassured and taken back to Dubai, “wrote Latifa in the February 2018 document.
The princess added that her sister was tortured, “kept incommunicado without a release date, trial or charge”.
“She was tortured when she received a beating on her feet, something I experienced during my own imprisonment,” she wrote.
“Her ultimate goal is to be an emancipated person, to live with dignity, to have freedom of choice and freedom of movement … She wants the basic rights to which all human beings are entitled,” continued the princess.
The princess said her sister has “strong ties to England” and has been “kidnapped illegally on UK soil”.
“All I ask you to do is pay attention to her case, because it could give her freedom, which is the only thing she wants in life,” he added.
In a statement sent to CNN, the Cambridgeshire Police confirmed that they had received a letter, “dated February 2018 in relation to this case which will be considered as part of the ongoing review.”
The force also said it is investigating the recent BBC documentary Panorama, in which Latifa itself claims to have been held hostage in Dubai.
The UK Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on Thursday.
A recent statement from his family said that coverage of Latifa’s situation “does not reflect the real position,” according to the UAE embassy in London.
The letter was obtained and delivered to the police by one of Latifa and Haigh’s cousins.
The group also sent a “transcript of a series of video statements from Sheikha Latifa” obtained “smuggling, with great difficulty and danger, a cell phone into Sheikha Latifa’s prison in Dubai,” Haigh said in the letter sent to police and shared with CNN, using its Arabic title.
“Contact [with Latifa] was maintained throughout most of 2019 and 2020. Contact was lost in the second half of 2020, “said Haigh.
The group also claims to have evidence that a British citizen was involved in the kidnapping of Princess Shamsa.
“We were unable to release such evidence previously due to what we believed to be an unacceptable risk to the life and safety of Sheikha Latifa. However, now that contact has been lost, we are seriously concerned about her life and safety and have decided to take the step to disseminate the evidence obtained, “added Haigh.