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This undated image taken from a video in an unknown place shows Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum talking to a cell phone camera. The UN human rights body said on Wednesday, February 17, 2021 that it would ask the UAE for information on the daughter of the powerful ruler of Dubai after she said in video messages that she was imprisoned in a heavily guarded villa. (Campaign #FreeLatifa – Tiina Jauhiainen / David Haigh via AP)
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This undated image taken from a video in an unknown place shows Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum talking to a cell phone camera. The UN human rights body said on Wednesday, February 17, 2021 that it would request information from the UAE about the daughter of the powerful ruler of Dubai after she said in video messages that she was imprisoned in a heavily guarded villa. (Campaign #FreeLatifa – Tiina Jauhiainen / David Haigh via AP)
LONDON (AP) – Supporters of an Emirati princess who kept her will for nearly three years urge Joe Biden to pressure his father to release the woman, saying the US president is one of the few world leaders with stature of gaining freedom.
The case of Sheikha Latifa, Mohammed Al Maktoum, hit international headlines on Tuesday after the BBC published excerpts from video diaries saying they were recorded in a locked bathroom inside the Dubai villa where she was detained. Sheikha Latifa was arrested by commandos off the coast of India in 2018 after attempting to flee Dubai on a yacht.
Friends say they are concerned about Sheikha Latifa’s safety because nothing has been known about her 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 a supporter of Sheikha Latifa, said the princess’ sponsors were encouraged by Saudi Arabia’s recent decision to release Loujain al-Hathloul, a rights activist. of the women who had been detained for three years on charges that supporters said they had political motivation. His release came after the Biden administration, which has said it will 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 has also shown that he can do it with the Saudis.”
The case is also particularly sensitive in Britain due to economic and historical links with Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, which have built hotels and resorts to diversify an economy once based on the exploitation of the Emirates ’energy reserves. Sheikh Mohammed is the founder of the successful stable of horse racing Godolphin and maintains a friendly deal with British Queen Elizabeth II.
The family life of the ruling secretary was published in the news in 2019, when his estranged wife, Princess Haya, fled to London and sought custody of her two children through British courts. Last year, a British judge ruled that the sheikh had waged a campaign of fear and intimidation against Princess Haya and had ordered the abduction of two of her daughters, including Sheikh Latifa.
Sheikha Latifa’s former personal trainer, Tiina Jauhiainen, told the AP that her friend recorded video diaries on a phone that smuggled her about a year after her arrest.
In the videos, the princess says she is “concerned about my safety and my life.”
“They want my propaganda. They wanted me to make a video and say I’m happy and willing here. And I refused, “he said in a video obtained by The Associated Press.” I don’t know what can happen to me or how long this will last. And if they decide to release me, what would my life be like. But I’m not sure. “
His followers chose to make the videos public for fear of his life, Jauhiainen said.
“We’re extremely worried because they caught her with the phone and she may have ended up in a worse situation than before,” Jauhiainen told AP. “So we hope that, with this evidence, we secure his freedom, finally.”
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said Wednesday it would “raise these new developments in the United Arab Emirates.”
“Other parts of the UN human rights system with relevant mandates may also participate once they have analyzed the new material or received specific complaints,” Rupert Colville, a spokeswoman 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 the government could do little because Latifa is not a UK national.
Sheikh Mohammed and the royal court of Dubai have said Latifa is safe in the loving care of her family. The Dubai media office of the UAE governments did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Rodney Dixon, a London-based lawyer for Sheikha Latifa, said he hopes the videos will persuade Dubai authorities to release a client who says he just wants to be free. Dixon, who helped secure the release of a British investigator who was jailed in the UAE on espionage charges in 2018, urged diplomacy.
“Of course, steps can be taken to, as I said before, try to impose sanctions and take other actions,” Dixon told AP. “But why follow this route when we have a simple solution here, which should be followed immediately. Why prolong it further, getting involved in legal proceedings, litigation? This never benefits anyone in the long run. Better sort it right now. “
“Do the right thing,” he said. “Free the princess.”