Princess Latifa: Dubai royal appears in Paris with UN official
The UN human rights chief met in private with the daughter of the emir of Dubai on Friday, four years after the princess was allegedly kidnapped by her own family following her failed attempt to escape her father's captivity in 2018.
Michelle Bachelet said in a tweet that she met with Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum in private in Paris at her request. The picture showed the two women in front of Chaussée d'Antin - La Fayette metro station.
"After introduction with Latifa's legal advisor, the High Commissioner & Latifa met in private. Latifa conveyed to the High Commissioner that she was well & expressed her wish for respect for her privacy," the statement by Bachelet's office said.
Latifa has long been thought to be a captive of her father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who is prime minister and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates.
In 2020, a British judge ruled Sheikh Mohammed was keeping both Latifa and her sister Shamsa captive, and had kidnapped the two on separate occasions.
Latifa was detained by Dubai operatives and sent back to the emirate in 2018 after she attempted to escape from her father by crossing the Arabian Sea.
The Washington Post, one of the media organisations that analysed the leaked phone numbers in the Pegasus spyware expose, said last summer that Latifa had been captured in 2018 with the help of Pegasus.
The newspaper said phone numbers belonging to friends and associates of Latifa were added to the leaked list of numbers in the hours and days after the princess escaped Dubai in February 2018 with the help of her friend Tiina Jauhiainen, a Finnish capoeira instructor.
The BBC broadcast videos secretly recorded by Latifa and sent to friends abroad, in which she described her capture and her imprisonment after her return to the emirate. She said she was being held alone, without access to medical or legal help, in a locked villa guarded by police.
After Instagram pictures of Latifa in Spain emerged in June last year, a campaign group which supports her said there had been "very positive steps forward" in terms of her personal freedom.
She then appeared twice in images posted on the internet, once in a Dubai mall and another in Iceland.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
