Dubai royal family: Princess Latifa appeals to British police to investigate 'sister's abduction'

Princess Shamsa was 18 at the time and is now 39. He has not been seen in public since the alleged abduction. 

  

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Princess Latifa, the daughter of the King of Dubai, has appealed to British police to investigate the alleged abduction of her sister from Cambridge Street 20 years ago. 

  

He shared with the BBC a letter he had written to British police. In the letter, he claims that Princess Shamsa was abducted on her father's orders. Princess Shamsa was 18 at the time and is now 39. He has not been seen in public since the alleged abduction. 

  

Dubai and the United Arab Emirates have not responded to a request for comment from the BBC. 

  

In 2019, a High Court judge ruled that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum had abducted his two daughters and kept them in custody without their consent. 

  

Last week, BBC Panorama aired amazing videos that Princess Latifa had secretly recorded. In these videos, she describes herself as a hostage. He also made a failed escape attempt in 2018. The United Nations has since asked the UAE to provide evidence that Princess Latifa is alive. 

  

The UAE has said in the past that Princess Latifa is mentally ill and has been kept at home for treatment. 

  

Almost two decades ago, his older sister's attempt to escape from the family also resulted in imprisonment. 

  

In June 2000, Princess Shamsa fled her father's Long Cross estate in Surrey, UK. About two months later, he was abducted from Cambridge, flown by helicopter to France, and then flown to Dubai by private jet. 

  

The letter that Princess Latifa has now handed over to the British police is handwritten and was eaten in 2019 when she was kept alone in Jail Villa. 

  

"I urge you all to pay attention to his case because he can be free, your help can free your attention," she wrote. 

  

He added: "He has strong ties to England, he loves England, and his best memories are of the time he spent in England. 

  

Princess Latifa had put the date of February 2018 on this letter, ie before her failed attempt to escape. The point was, she did not want to reveal that she had a way of talking to the outside world while in prison. The letter tells the painful story of his sister's return to Dubai. 

  

"They were detained without any contact, no trial, no conviction," she said. They were beaten with sticks to torture them. 

  

Cambridge police began investigating the alleged abduction of Princess Shamsa in 2001 when she was approached by an immigration lawyer. However, the investigation could not proceed when the authorities were prevented from going to Dubai. 

  

It was later learned that Sheikh's aides had spoken to the British Foreign Office in this regard. 

  

Police re-examined the investigation in 2018, and BBC News can now say that one investigator admitted that there were significant complications. 

  

Following the High Court's order, the 2020 review was resumed. 

  

In a statement to the BBC, Cambridge police say they have received a letter from Princess Latifa and will be part of a new review. "This is a very complex and serious matter and there are elements in this case that would be inappropriate to expose in public," the statement added. 

  

The British Foreign Office has told the BBC that this is a private matter between two people and that they have nothing to do with the British police or the investigation. 

  

He declined to comment on whether a message had been sent to him from the Sheikh's office. When Princess Latifa's video surfaced, Foreign Secretary Dominic Robb described it as "extremely disturbing" and said the British government was keeping a close eye on progress. 

  

In 2018, a royal court in Dubai told the BBC that Princess Shamsa was loved immensely. The King of Dubai has so far made only one statement in this regard in which he expressed happiness over the reunion of Princess Shamsa after her disappearance. 

  

Princess Shamsa's story is being repeated with Princess Latifa after 18 years. And Princess Shamsa is the reason for Princess Latifa's decision to leave the country. 

  

The BBC also spoke to a man who has been in constant contact with Princess Shamsa. "You don't have to be a doctor to understand that they have been under the influence of drugs all the time," he says. 

  

Young Princess Shamsa's failed attempt to escape 

  

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Princess Shamsa grew up partly in Britain and was educated in the West. 

  

His cousin Marcus Isaberi lived with his family in Dubai for two years and was close to Shamsa. "Shamsa was not a traditional princess," he says. She was naughty and wanted to enjoy life. 

  

"She wanted the best for women, especially for women in the Arab world," she said. She tested the boundaries and that's where the problem started. " 

  

In September 1999, Princess Shamsa wrote a letter to Marcus Isabury stating that her father (then Crown Prince of Dubai) had not given her a higher education. Running. 

  

"I am not allowed to continue reading," he said. They didn't even ask me what you were interested in. They just forbade it. " 

  

She told her cousin the secret that she was thinking of escaping. 

  

"The thing that scares me is that when I think I'm getting old, I'm sad that at the age of 18, I didn't try," he wrote. I don't know what to try, just to take a chance on something. " 

  

In the summer of 2000, he took a chance. They took a black Range Rover to the corner of Sheikh's  75 million estate and fled. Sheikh deployed a team of agents to search for them. 

  

On August 19, 2000, Princess Shamsa arrived at the University Arms Hotel in Cambridge with a man. He did not even know that his father's agents had caught him off the road. 

  

Princess Shamsa was taken to Sheikh's nearby State New Market. The next morning, up to five children were taken by helicopter from New Market to France, where they were transferred on a private jet. 

  

A few hours later, she was back in Dubai. His dreams of freedom and education were shattered. 

  

How the British investigation was stopped 

  

It took Cambridge Police Detective Inspector David Beck almost seven months to receive the kidnapping charges. 

  

Speaking in a BBC documentary in 2018, he said that it was not a matter of days before you had a case in which the head of state was blamed. 

  

Shamsa delivered a letter to an immigration lawyer when she was first in London. "I don't have much time to write," he wrote. I have been under surveillance all the time. That's why I come to the main point. I was caught by my father, and I am still in prison today. Now I am asking you not only to report it, but also to involve the authorities. " 

  

Detective Inspector David Beck says the evidence in the investigation at the moment seems to suggest that there may be some truth to the allegations. 

  

Police later said due to a court order that authorities had managed to talk to Princess Shamsa but that she had to go to Dubai for Shamsa's interview. She applied through the Crown Prosecution Service but was denied. 

  

"I was never given a reason." 

  

The case cooled down again, but in 2018 another message from Princess Shamsa came and then an attempt was made. But in the end, the evidence was insufficient for further action. 

  

Sheikh had submitted a statement in the High Court stating that Shamsa was more vulnerable than other women of her age because of her position and she was in danger of being abducted. 

  

Princess Latifa's letter is the third time British authorities have been asked to investigate. 

  

But the Sheikh of Dubai has a lot of ties in the UK. He is a friend of the British Queen, and owns a lot of land in the country. Many British governments consider the UAE an important friend and trading partner. 

  

In 2000 or 2001, Sheikh's office contacted the British Foreign Office about Princess Shamsa's case. Later, in response to a parliamentary question, the Foreign Ministry said it had told the sheikh on the occasion that it was a matter for the police and not for them. But BBC News estimates that the Foreign Office was silent on the alleged abduction. 

  

Princess Shamsa's now zombie life 

  

Princess Latifa claims that she spent eight years in jail after Shamsa was caught. 

  

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He was defeated in 2008 when Latifa met him. "They had to hold hands and walk. She could not open her eyes. They were given medicine to control it. These drugs made him a zombie. 

  

The person who had contact with Shamsa said that Shamsa was just silent. There was no mischief in it. What she did was controlled. She was just a shell. " 

  

"I think they have convinced themselves that this is their life now. It's very sad. " 

  

In 2019, Latifa met Shamsa again. By now, Latifa had imprisoned herself after trying to escape. He told his cousin about the meeting by secret phone. 

  

"Latifa told me you wouldn't recognize her anymore," he says. He is under the influence of so much medicine. He is alive but Shamsa is no longer Shamsa.