https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/16/middleeast/dubai-princess-latifa-hostage-claim-intl/index.htmlThe daughter of Dubai's billionaire ruler, who attempted to flee abroad in 2018, has appeared in secret recordings claiming she is being held hostage in a "villa converted into a jail" with no access to medical help, according to a BBC documentary.
Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum -- the daughter of UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum -- was last seen publicly in March 2018 aboard a yacht off the coast of India before a raid by Indian and Emirati forces took her back to Dubai, according to two people who had helped plan her escape.
It was her second failed attempt to flee abroad after she previously tried to leave the UAE in 2002 as a teenager.
In a video clip, obtained by BBC Panorama and supplied to CNN ahead of 'The Missing Princess' documentary airing Tuesday night, Princess Latifa says: "I'm a hostage. This villa has been converted into jail. All the windows are barred shut, I can't open any window ... I've been by myself, solitary confinement. No access to medical help, no trial, no charge, nothing."
CNN has not independently verified the videos or Latifa's current whereabouts. CNN has contacted the Dubai government for comment.
Princess Latifa secretly recorded the videos herself on a mobile phone whilst hiding in a locked bathroom, according to the BBC. The documentary says around a year after Latifa was taken back to Dubai, her friend Tiina Jauhiainen was contacted by someone who helped her secretly reconnect with her.
Jauhiainen managed to get a phone to Latifa and since then the princess has recorded many video messages "describing her captivity in a villa converted into a jail with its windows barred shut," according to a BBC press release.
"BBC Panorama has independently verified the details of where Latifa was being held hostage. She was guarded by around 30 police, working on rotation, both inside and outside the villa. The location is just metres from the beach. It is not known if she is still there," the press release says.
