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This undated image taken from a video in an unknown location shows Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum speaking to a cell phone camera. The United Nations human rights body said on Wednesday, February 17, 2021, that it will seek information from the United Arab Emirates about the daughter of the powerful ruler of Dubai, after she said in video messages that she was being arrested in a heavily guarded village. (#FreeLatifa Campaign – Tiina Jauhiainen / David Haigh via AP)
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This undated image taken from a video in an unknown location shows Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum speaking to a cell phone camera. The United Nations human rights body said on Wednesday, February 17, 2021, that it will seek information from the United Arab Emirates about the daughter of the powerful ruler of Dubai, after she said in video messages that she was being arrested in a heavily guarded village. (#FreeLatifa Campaign – Tiina Jauhiainen / David Haigh via AP)
LONDON (AP) – Supporters of an Emirati princess held against her will for nearly three years are asking Joe Biden to pressure his father to release the woman, saying the President of the United States is one of the few world leaders with the stature to win her over. la liberty.
The case of Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum made international headlines on Tuesday after the BBC released excerpts from video diaries which she said were recorded in a locked bathroom inside the villa in Dubai where she was detained. Sheikha Latifa was arrested by commandos off the coast of India in 2018 after trying to escape Dubai on a yacht.
Friends say they are concerned about the security of Sheikha Latifa because she has not been heard since she stopped responding to text messages six months ago. The 35-year-old princess is the daughter of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the hereditary ruler of Dubai who also serves as Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates.
David Haigh, a longtime human rights defender in Dubai and supporter of the Sheikha Latifa, said the princess’s supporters were encouraged by Saudi Arabia’s recent decision to release Loujain al-Hathloul, a three-year-old detained women’s rights activist after accusations that supporters said were politically motivated. His release came after the Biden government, which said it would emphasize human rights in foreign policy, froze some arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
“The only level of people who will have enough influence to effectively force Latifa’s father to open his prison are people like Joe Biden, and there are very few of them,” Haigh told the Associated Press. “And he also showed that he can do that with the Saudis.”
The case is also particularly delicate in Britain because of the economic and historical ties with Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, which built hotels and resorts to diversify an economy that was previously based on the exploitation of the Emirates’ energy reserves. Sheikh Mohammed is the founder of the successful horse racing stable Godolphin and maintains friendly relations with Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.
The life of the governor’s secret family was first reported on the news in 2019, when his ex-wife, Princess Haya, fled to London and sought custody of her two children in British courts. Last year, a British judge ruled that the sheikh had conducted a campaign of fear and intimidation against Princess Haya and ordered the kidnapping of two of her daughters, including Sheikh Latifa.
Former Sheikha Latifa personal trainer Tiina Jauhiainen told the AP that her friend recorded the video diaries on a phone that was smuggled into her about a year after her arrest.
In the videos, the princess says she is “concerned for my safety and my life”.
“They want my propaganda. They wanted me to make a video and say that I am here happily and voluntarily. And I refused, ”she said in a video obtained by The Associated Press. “I don’t know what can happen to me and how long it will take. And if they decide to let me go, what my life would be like. But I am not sure. “
His supporters chose to make the videos public out of fear for his life, said Jauhiainen.
“We are extremely concerned that she was caught with the phone and possibly ended up in a worse situation than before,” Jauhiainen told AP. “ So we hope that with this evidence, we can finally guarantee her freedom. “
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Wednesday that it would “raise these new developments with the United Arab Emirates”.
“Other parts of the UN human rights system with relevant mandates may also become involved after reviewing the new material or receiving specific allegations,” Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the high commissioner, told the BBC.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called the videos “very distressing” and said he supported a UN investigation. Raab said Britain was “concerned”, but suggested there was little the government could do because Latifa is not a citizen of the United Kingdom.
Sheikh Mohammed and the Dubai royal court said Latifa was safe under the loving care of her family. The UAE government’s Dubai Media Office did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Rodney Dixon, a lawyer for Sheikha Latifa in London, said he hoped the videos would persuade authorities in Dubai to release a client who says she just wants to be free. Dixon, who helped secure the release of a British researcher who was arrested in the UAE on charges of spying in 2018, called for diplomacy.
“Of course, steps can be taken to, as I said before, look at imposing sanctions and taking other steps,” Dixon told the AP. “But why follow this path if we have a simple solution here, which must be followed immediately. Why delay further, getting involved in legal channels, litigation? Ultimately, it never benefits anyone in the long run. Better fix it now. ″
“Do the right thing,” he said. “Release the princess. ″