Princess Latifa, the daughter of Dubai ruler Muhammad bin Rashid Maktoum, first tried to flee the country at the age of sixteen. And then again, the last time three years ago. Since then, she has been in contact with only a few friends. When she did not call them now, they decided to publish her statement about the conditions in which she lives. “The police are threatening me that I will be in prison for the rest of my life,” says the princess.
The last attempt to escape the now 35-year-old Latifa aroused an international response in March 2018. In case the plan fails, the princess made a video in which she explains her situation. “I can’t drive, travel or leave Dubai. I haven’t left the country since 2000. I keep asking if I can travel, study or do anything normal. They won’t let me. That’s why I have to leave, “she said three years ago.
Latífa tried to leave the United Arab Emirates together with her friend Tiina Jauhianová from Finland. They drove along the coast of Oman, from where they continued on the water on a jet ski and in a small boat. After a few hours, they got on a yacht in international waters.
“I’m free,” Latifa wrote to her friends at that moment. Her goal was to fly to the United States and apply for political asylum. The attached tweet shows the route that the women fled.
We shouldn’t forget that the Indian government helped the Dubai ruler kidnap his adult daughter Princess Latifa just 30 miles from India’s coast while she was trying to flee a circumscribed life under his thumb. Will PM Modi now press for her release? https://t.co/81CjrvcmNJ pic.twitter.com/q71YNn0uKu
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) February 17, 2021
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However, the princess lasted only eight days. Then a small boat with armed men crashed into a ship sailing near the Indian border. “Latífa screamed and kicked. She said ‘don’t take me back to the Emirates, you better shoot me here,'” Jauhian recalls, who then spent two weeks in a Dubai prison. That was the last time she saw Latifa live.
The video was then made public, and human rights organizations became interested in the safety of women. Her father said Latifa was OK in the care of his family, and described the incident on the yacht as a rescue mission. According to him, the princess suffers from bipolar disorder and can easily be influenced by other people.
No court, no windows, no medical care
More information about the fate of Latifa was revealed this week by a British station BBC, with whom Jauhian teamed up. In the meantime, she got a telephone contact for the princess from a stranger. “When I heard her voice, I cried. I couldn’t help myself. It was very emotional,” she said.
Latífa sent her next videos, in which she described, for example, what happened after her arrest. Armed men allegedly injected her with an unknown substance, even though she was fighting one of them. “He grabbed me and picked me up. I kicked and fought, but he was so much bigger than me. Then his sleeve rolled up and his hand was exposed. I only had one chance, so I bit him as hard as I could and jerked my head. He shouted,” she added. details. Then she received another sedative and was strapped to a stretcher.
The last thing Latifa remembers is the stairs to a private plane. She only woke up in Dubai.
There she was moved to a villa near the sea, which she said is being converted into a prison. “I’m filming this in the bathroom because it’s the only room I can lock,” he says in the corner of the room, where nothing else is visible. She is more or less alone in the building, inside she is guarded by two police officers and outside in front of the house there are five other guards.
She cannot open the windows, has no access to medical care and has not had any trial. “I don’t have my life in my hands. I can’t even go out into the fresh air,” he says.
“Every day I’m afraid for my safety and my life. I don’t know if I will survive. The police threaten me that I will be in prison for the rest of my life and I will never see the sun again. I am not safe here,” he says. Agency Reuters however, he adds that the authenticity of the shots cannot be verified.
If you’re watching this, I could be dead
“We shouldn’t pretend that just because she’s in a villa, it’s okay. This woman is trapped in a solitary confinement where she only meets her guards. Soles of this type are seen as a form of torture,” explains Human Rights Watch. Ken Roth.
The United Arab Emirates government’s press service has referred questions about the video to the law firm of the Dubai ruler. However, she has not yet provided a comment.
Latífa had been making secret videos for a long time, but a few months ago she stopped talking to Jauhian. She therefore decided to publish the footage. “It wasn’t an easy decision, I had many sleepless nights because of it,” says Jauhian. “But it was time to do something. I think she wants us to fight for her and not give up.”
“If she was caught with a mobile phone, her current conditions are much worse,” adds Latifa’s friend. The same will be said in the video the princess left in case something happened to her: “If you’re watching this, it’s not very good news. I’m either dead or in a very, very, very bad situation.”
Video: A young Saudi woman barricaded herself in a hotel room. She ran away from her family
A young Saudi woman barricaded herself in a hotel room. She ran away from her family Video: Reuters
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