Video shows Dubai princess in 'villa jail'

Video shows Dubai princess in 'villa jail'

The BBC's investigative news program Panorama on Tuesday published a video it said was of Sheikha Latifa, one of the ruler of Dubai's daughters, saying that she was being held against her will in a barricaded villa.

Lauren Anthony reports.

BROADCAST AND DIGITAL RESTRICTIONS~** Broadcasters: 48 HOURS USE ONLY / MANDATORY ON SCREEN CREDIT 'BBC PANORAMA' Digital: ONLINE USES PUBLISHED WITHIN 48 HOUR WINDOW CAN REMAIN IN PERPETUITY / MANDATORY ON SCREEN CREDIT 'BBC PANORAMA'.

For Reuters customers only~** PLEASE NOTE: A PREVIOUS VERSION OF THIS STORY NAMED PRINCESS HAYA AS SHEIKHA LATIFA BINT MOHAMMED AL-MAKTOUM'S MOTHER, NOT HER STEPMOTHER.

THIS HAS NOW BEEN CORRECTED.

"I'm a hostage and this villa has been converted into a jail, all the windows are barred shut, I can't open any window." Newly-released footage purports to show a daughter of the ruler of Dubai held against her will in what she describes as a “villa converted into a jail.” "I've been by myself, solitary confinement, no access to medical help, no trial, no charge, nothing." Britain's BBC published the video on its Panorama program on Tuesday (February 15).

Reuters has been unable to independently verify when or where the video was recorded.

Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum made headlines in 2018 when she claimed she'd been abducted by her father.

A human rights group at the time released video she made describing an attempt to escape Dubai by boat.

"Well, basically, she asked me in summer 2017 if I would help her escape from Dubai.” Last year, one of her friends described the harrowing abduction to Reuters.

"The last time I saw her, yes.

She was kicking and screaming, and she was dragged off the boat." Sheikha Latifa’s stepmother, Princess Haya, is the former wife of Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.

In a legal battle last year a London High Court judge accepted her allegation that the ruler ordered Latifa's abduction.

His lawyers rejected the allegations.

The Free Latifa campaign, which has lobbied for her release said it managed to smuggle a phone to her.

The Dubai government referred questions about the video to the ruler's law firm, which did not respond to a request for comment.