UK court adjudicates allegations of kidnapping two daughters and intimidating wife against Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid-al Maktoum in a detailed judgment released on Thursday.
Princess Haya – the youngest and sixth wife of Sheikh Rashid had launched a legal battle against him to save herself and children from forced abduction and return to UAE after she secretly fled to the UK eight months ago.
UK court rules that UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum abducted daughters and threatened wife.
This is a harrowing read. https://t.co/L0XHDE9Kvi
— Yousra Elbagir (@YousraElbagir) March 5, 2020
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Britain’s court had published a detailed Fact-Finding Judgment in favour of Princess Haya and validated the allegations filed by her. Former wife, Princess Haya had fled to the UK secretly with her two children for fear of her life last year.
The Court also rejected the plea of Sheikh Rashid bin Al-Maktoum to keep the proceedings of the case away from the public attention and maintained that the case is of public interest.
The ruler of Dubai was found to have “not been open and honest with the court”.
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In a statement issued after the judgments were published, Sheikh Mohammed said: “As a head of government, I was not able to participate in the court’s fact-finding process. This has resulted in the release of a ‘fact-finding’ judgment which inevitably only tells one side of the story.”
He insisted the case was a private matter. “I ask that the media respect the privacy of our children and do not intrude into their lives in the UK,” he said.
“The sheikh’s actions only emerged after his sixth and youngest wife, Princess Haya, 45, fled to London last April with their two young children. His attempt to return the children to Dubai triggered a legal action in the family courts.”
Dubai Mafia ruler https://t.co/QtNSUoyGQ1
— Skeptic Mohamed (@SkepticMohamed) March 5, 2020
After listening to numerous witnesses and in the various proceeding, the Court concluded that Sheikh Rashid Al-Maktoum abducted his two daughters Sheikha Shamsa who fled the family’s estate in Surrey in 2001 in Cambridgeshire and was forcibly returned to UAE where she was kept in captivity.
Another daughter, Sheikha Latifa, made two unsuccessful attempts to escape the family in 2002 and 2018. Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid al-Maktoum imprisoned her for three years after her first attempt. Second, she was caught at sea off the Indian coast. She was returned to Dubai and is under house arrest.
The judge found Sheikha Latifa’s claims of physical abuse and torture in a video credible. The judge found that Sheikh Mohammed “continues to maintain a regime whereby both these two young women are deprived of their liberty”.
Dubai's billionaire ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum conducted a sustained campaign of fear, intimidation and harassment of his ex-wife, Princess Haya Bint Al-Hussain, a court in London has found https://t.co/3dhLC2brlK
— CNN (@CNN) March 6, 2020
Princess Haya stipulated that she was made to believe that the two princesses were rescued and that they are safe with the family but she later objected to the treatment of the two daughters of Sheikh Rashid.
The judgment asserted that twice a gun with safety catches off was placed on her pillow and a helicopter landed outside her house threatening to move her to a remote desert, which was part of the intimidation campaign initiated by the agents of Sheikh Rashid.
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Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein, the sixth wife of Dubai ruler Sheikh Rashid Al-Maktoum, reportedly fled to Germany with her two children last year. The Princess after fleeing to Germany was hiding in London and feared for her life. The Emirati Royal Couple engaged in a legal battle for the custody of their two children.
Princess Haya, 45, married Sheikh Rashid, 69, in 2004 and became the ‘junior’ wife of the Sheikh Rashid al-Maktoum. Princess Haya is the third woman to flee the UAE palace. She had filed for divorce and seeks asylum in the UK.