Tomás Ó Flatharta

The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, is an international criminal. Perhaps he will be the next monarch visiting President Michael D Higgins of Ireland in the Phoenix Park. It is time to stop grovelling to Royal Parasites.

The ruler of Dubai orchestrated the abductions of two of his children – one from the streets of Cambridge – and subjected his youngest wife to a campaign of “intimidation”, a damning UK family court judgment has found.

In findings that risk destabilising diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, a close Gulf ally of Britain, the actions of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum were described by the judge as behaviour which, on the balance of probabilities, amounted to potentially breaking UK and international law.

The Guardian and other news organisations can reveal the ruling following months of private hearings and a legal dispute that reached the supreme court. It details an extraordinary family saga spanning 20 years during which the sheikh, 70, organised international kidnappings, imprisoned two of his daughters and “deprived [them] of their liberty”.

Much of the 34-page fact-finding ruling by Sir Andrew McFarlane, president of the family division of the high court in England and Wales, records the events surrounding the notorious disappearances of Princess Shamsa from Cambridge in 2000, when she was 19, and of Princess Latifa, who was seized by Indian army commandos from the Indian Ocean in 2018, when she was 32, before being forcibly returned to Dubai.

Allegations of torture surfaced during the case. Latifa said she was exposed at one stage to “constant torture”, and the judge, while he did not make any finding on that specific point, said he felt confident in relying upon her account. She was kept in solitary in the dark and beaten repeatedly, according to Latifa.
— Read on www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/05/dubai-ruler-sheikh-mohammed-organised-kidnapping-of-his-children-uk-court-finds

Tariq Ali Notes :

“If anyone is surprised by any of this, s/he is suffering from the sycovirus that is a consequence of over-dosing on sycophants that is now out of controls in TV and newspaper offices throughout the Western world. The Saudi chain-saw murderer travels the world freely. The Dubai Sheikh is tormenting the females in his family. Given the size of his purse few care. So three cheers to the UK Family Court.”

Conor Kennelly Comments :

“https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-51756984

some justice at least. Amazing how this guy still gets a free pass, in Ireland and elsewhere. Mary Robinson had no problem in his company and suggesting that his daughter, Latifa, whom he abducted, had mental health issues and therefore, casting her account of abduction into account. She may well be dead by now and Robinson’s interference probably didn’t help.”

Former UN rights chief Mary Robinson has been accused of supporting the emirate of Dubai’s version of events over a princess who was feared missing.

Mrs Robinson, who recently met Sheikha Latifa, daughter of Dubai’s ruler, said she was a “troubled young woman”.

She told the BBC the princess regretted making a video in which she alleged confinement and torture.

Radha Stirling, head of the rights group Detained in Dubai, said questions remained about the princess’s welfare.

“Anyone familiar with Princess Latifa’s story who listened to the BBC Radio interview today with Mary Robinson will be astonished at the extent to which Mrs Robinson appeared to be reciting almost verbatim from Dubai’s script,” she said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-46697867