“In response to media reports about Sheikha Latifa, we want to thank all those who have expressed concern about her well-being, despite coverage that certainly does not reflect the actual position,” her family’s statement said. according to the United Arab Emirates Embassy (UAE) in London.
In secret recordings obtained by the BBC and shared with CNN, the daughter of Dubai’s ruling billionaire claimed she was being held hostage in a “prison-turned village” with no access to medical help.
The royal family’s declaration does not meet the requirements of the United Nations and the United Kingdom for the United Arab Emirates to provide proof of life for the sheikh.
In the statement, his family said “His Highness is being cared for at home, with the support of his family and medical professionals.”
“It continues to improve and we hope it can return to public life at the right time,” he added.
Sheikh Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum, daughter of the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was last seen publicly in March 2018 aboard a yacht off the coast of India, before that an incursion by Indian and Emirate forces would take her back to Dubai, according to two people who had helped plan her escape.
It was his second failed attempt to flee abroad after before attempting to leave the UAE in 2002 as a teenager.
In one of the video clips, Princess Latifa says, “I am a hostage. This village has become a prison. All the windows are closed, I can’t open any windows … I have been alone, in isolation. Without access to medical help, no trial, no charges, nothing. “
Princess Latifa herself secretly 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 returning to Latifa in Dubai, someone who helped the couple secretly reconnect contacted their friend Tiina Jauhiainen.
Jauhiainen managed to get a phone to Latifa and since then the princess has recorded many video messages “describing her captivity in a villa turned into a prison with the windows closed,” according to a BBC press release .
“BBC Panorama has independently verified the details of where Latifa was held hostage. She was protected by about 30 police officers, working in rotation, both inside and outside the village. The location is just a few meters from the beach. It is not known if he is still there, “the press release said.
In another video shown in the documentary, Latifa says: “I have been here for more than a year in prison. There is no access to medical help, no trial, no charges, nothing … Every day worries me my security and the police threaten me that I will never see the sun again. I’m not sure here. “
CNN’s Caroline Faraj in Dubai, Mostafa Salem in Abu Dhabi and Sarah Dean in London contributed to this report.