‘Captured Princess Latifa of Dubai sent secret video messages’

It sounds like a very sick fairy tale and not necessarily one that Disney would film: princess was previously drugged and now also taken hostage. Yet it seems that it is not a ‘fairytale’, but actually happened. And the question of whether she lives happily ever after, the princess of Dubai cannot answer yet.

The daughter of the ruler of Dubai has sent secret video messages to friends. She said her father was ‘taking her hostage’ and that she feared for her life, reports the BBC.

Im not doubting it, Im just confused. How is she sending messages if shes imprisoned and held against her will? They let her keep her phone?

– Glip Glop (@ Psolomon2016) February 16, 2021

Princess Dubai

Princess Latifa al-Maktoum tried to flee her home country in a boat in 2018. Elite troops would then have drugged her and retrieved her. She said in a leaked video that the authorities subsequently locked her in a villa that was under police surveillance. And no locksmith in the area, of course.

Unreliable locksmiths calmly present a bill with three zeros

The now 35-year-old princess is said to have secretly made the videos on a telephone. She did that in the bathroom, because the door could be locked there. “The police say that I will be in prison all my life and never see the sun again,” she said in one video. “Every day I fear for my safety and my life.”

Latifa stopped sending videos after some time. Her friends are now calling on the United Nations to intervene, the British broadcaster reports.

“It’s now time for the UN to add its considerable weight to the fight against human rights abuses being perpetrated by the #UAE regime.”

Detained founder, @HaighDavid, commenting this week on the case of #Dubai’s Princess Latifa.#FreeLatifa

Read more: https://t.co/R4KoH3zsbn

— Detained International (@detainedin) October 1, 2020

Sheikh Mohammed Dubai

The princess’s father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, is one of the richest monarchs in the world. The princess had also recorded a video message before her flight attempt in 2018. It later appeared on YouTube. “If you see this video, it is not good. Then I am dead or in a very, very, very bad situation, ”she warned.

At that time there was already a reaction to her story in horror. “If this is what happens to princesses, you have to consider how bad it is for ordinary women seeking an excuse,” feminist Mona Eltahawy summed up. It also confuses people. For example, someone wonders how she can make all those films, if she is held hostage. “Can she keep her phone then?” After which a discussion about wifi erupts, with the final conclusion that “everywhere in Dubai” is free wifi.

In the meantime, more and more people are concerned about her fate and #FreeLatifa is born. “Stop seeing Dubai as a holiday resort, this is what is really happening. #FreeLatifa. ”

It’s gutting. If this is what happens to princesses, imagine how much worse for ordinary women unable to find money or connection to at least attempt escape. Family laws that give so much power to the father/husband – the literal patriarch – are a disaster for women and children.

— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) December 7, 2018

Im not doubting it, Im just confused. How is she sending messages if shes imprisoned and held against her will? They let her keep her phone?

– Glip Glop (@ Psolomon2016) February 16, 2021

Except wifi is free ALL over dubai… so why wouldn’t she be able to just use the free wifi every one else uses when in dubai?

— MissMendezUK_Cuba (@missmendezuk) February 16, 2021

Stop seeing #Dubai as a holiday destination – this is actually what happens there. #freelatifa https://t.co/xy9NFoZo2u

— Cleo Pollard (@cleopollard) February 16, 2021