The royal family of Dubai claims that Princess Latifa is "being cared for at home," denying videos in which she accused them of keeping her hostage after she tried to escape abroad in 2018.
Dubai's Princess Latifa is being cared for at home, her family says
According to London's UAE embassy, her family's statement said, "In response to media reports regarding Sheikha Latifa, we want to thank those who have expressed concern for her welfare, despite the news which certainly is not reflective of the actual position." The daughter of Dubai's billionaire ruler reported in secret recordings obtained by the BBC shared with CNN that she was being held hostage in a "villa transformed into a jail" with no medical assistance access.
CNN has not officially verified the recordings, published earlier this week as part of BBC Panorama's The Missing Princess' documentary, or the exact whereabouts of Latifa. The royal family's statement comes short of requests from the United Nations and the United Kingdom that the UAE provide the sheikha with proof of life, as per CNN.
Princess Latifa's family said, "Her Highness is being cared for at home, assisted by her family and medical experts." The family of Latifa and close friends set up a movement called Free Latifa with supporters and advisers. Several human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, funded the campaign.
The leaders of the campaign said on Friday that any confirmation that Princess Latifa is safe is welcome. But the statement today is reminiscent of what happened in 2019, 2019, and 2020.
The declaration called on UN and world leaders, including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden, to urge the release of Latifa from the UAE. Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum, was last seen publicly on a yacht off India's coast in March 2018, before she was brought back to Dubai by Indian and Emirati troops' intervention, according to two people who helped organize her escape. Since her first attempt to leave the UAE in 2002 as a child, her second unsuccessful attempt was to escape abroad.
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Dubai Princess' tortured by prison guards'
Dubai Princess Latifa's lawyer alleged that guards put a bag of razor blades in her room and gave her an electronic stopwatch to monitor every passing day to attempt to 'break her spirit,' Daily Mail reported.
This month, after trying to escape in 2018, Princess Latifa, 35, the daughter of Dubai Governor Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum, 71, accused her father of holding her hostage in a Dubai villa. The Princess described in secretly filmed videos how she tries to escape from her billionaire father, who has since kept her against her will.
Today, her Free Latifa campaign British council, David Haigh, has revealed how a stopwatch was handed to the Princess to count her time in the prison villa. It sits next to the seven-star Burj Al Arab palace and even told her she would have to stay there for another year.
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Who is Dubai's Princess Latifa?
The daughter of one of the world's wealthiest men, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Princess Latifa, is just one of his 25 daughters. Aside from her alleged escape from the country, not much is known about the Princess.
In 2018, she tried to escape but was reportedly discovered on a yacht off India's coast by her father's men and returned to Dubai against her will. The UAE and Dubai have already confirmed that she is safe in her family's care.
According to Express, the UAE is under extreme pressure to announce Princess Latifa's whereabouts after the details leaked to BBC Panorama by her friends about her detention. The United Nations are pursuing her disappearance and whereabouts.
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