Sheikha Latifa Says That She is Held Hostage in Video Released by BBC
The British Broadcasting Channel (BBC) released footage of Sheikha Latifa Bint Mohammed Al Maktoum on February 16. Sheikha Latifa is the daughter of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The British Broadcasting Channel (BBC) released footage of Sheikha Latifa Bint Mohammed Al Maktoum on February 16.
Sheikha Latifa is the daughter of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and the Vice President of the United Arab Emirates.
In the videos Latifa has revealed that she has been held hostage at a villa in Dubai which has been converted into a jail.
She said that she was recording the video in the bathroom of the villa as this was the only room she could lock herself into.
“All the windows are barred shut, I can't open any window”, she explained.
A phone was handed over to her secretly by the #FreeLatifa campaign through which she could record secret videos over the past two years.
The videos were released in BBC’s Panorama news programme. It was close friend of Latifa, Tiina Jauhiainen who gave details about her capture and detention to Panorama.
Latifa created headlines in 2018 when she tried to escape Dubai with Tiina Jauhiainen in a car and crossed into Oman.
They used jet skis from there and met French Intelligence Officer Herve Jaubert and his crew on the yacht Nostromo. They used the yacht to set sail towards Goa however they were intercepted by the Indian authorities. She had to forcibly return to Dubai at gunpoint.
It has been long since Latifa’s loved ones heard from her. Britain too wants proof that Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum is still alive.
“It's deeply troubling and you can see a young woman under deep distress,” Dominic Raab said.
Raab told Sky News television: “Given what we've just seen, I think people would just at a human level want to see that she's alive and well.”
Britain is concerned about the footage and the United Nations will be following up on the video, Raab told the BBC.
Latifa was last seen in 2018 with former Irish President and United Nations high commissioner for human rights Mary Robinson. She revealed that she was “horribly tricked.” She was told not ask about Latifa’s situation as that would escalate her delicate mental condition which wasn’t true.
The Dubai and UK government hasn’t responded to the comments put forward by BBC as of now. This case in which a woman wants her liberty is attracting a lot of attention worldwide and has put the spotlight on Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s regime, treatment towards women and the subject of human rights in the country.
