Dubai ruler threatened wife and had daughters abducted, says British judge
- Rulings were made after court battle between Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and estranged spouse Princess Haya
- Dubai leader fought to keep rulings from being made public, but attempt was quashed by UK Supreme Court
The ruler of Dubai conducted a campaign of fear and intimidation against his estranged wife and ordered the abduction of two of his daughters, a British judge ruled in documents that were unsealed on Thursday.
A judge at the High Court in London found that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, 70, “acted in a manner from the end of 2018 which has been aimed at intimidating and frightening” his ex-wife Princess Haya, 45.
Judge Andrew McFarlane also said the sheikh “ordered and orchestrated” the abductions and forced return to Dubai of two of his adult daughters from another marriage: Sheikha Shamsa in August 2000, and Sheikha Latifa in 2002 and again in 2018.
The judge made rulings in December and January after a battle between the estranged spouses over the welfare of their two children, but the sheikh fought to prevent them from being made public. The UK Supreme Court quashed that attempt on Thursday.
Princess Haya, daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan, married the Dubai ruler in 2004, becoming his second official wife, the court said. Sheikh Mohammed also has several unofficial wives. The couple have a daughter, Jalila, 12, and eight-year-old son Zayed, the youngest of the ruler’s 25 children.