Ex-wife of Dubai royal says she fears arrest as custody battle escalates

The ex-wife of a member of Dubai’s ruling family has expressed fears she could be arrested after her ex-husband filed a criminal complaint with local police accusing her of kidnapping their three young daughters.

Since their divorce in 2019, Zeynab Javadli has been locked in a bitter custody battle with her ex-husband, Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, nephew of the ruler of Dubai.

Matters have come to a head in recent weeks, with the children changing hands multiple times between parents, with each side accusing the other of kidnapping them.

Ms Javadli could also be arrested for e-crime (cybercrime) after live-streaming the latest showdown.

In going public, she said she realized she was taking a big risk.

“I knew this was my last chance to be with my children as they would never let me see them again. I sincerely believed this was my last chance so I went live and asked for help,” she said in a video message to British lawyer David Hague.

Ms Javadli made the remarks from her home in Dubai. She claims she and her three daughters have essentially been quarantined again since she brought them back from a few weeks with their father.

Until then, Ms Javadli had effective custody of the children under an agreement she said was struck with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, in 2022. She said the agreement guaranteed her custody of the children until they turned 18 and provided housing and other assistance. Their school fees were paid by their father.

In return, Haigh said she had to sign documents saying she would no longer speak to the media about her situation or do any more live broadcasts.

A subsequent court ruling awarded custody to Sheikh Saeed, but Ms Javadli said she had received assurances from those involved in the case that dealings with Dubai’s ruler would not be affected.

That was still the case until two months ago.

Ms Javadli said it was then, during one of her regular visits to Sheikh Saeed’s children, that she received a message from Sheikh Saeed through Dubai Police telling her there was no need to wait as the children would not be returned to her that day.

She hadn’t heard from them for weeks. She was eventually granted a three-hour visit at a child protection center and headed there on November 8 with her driver. She said when she entered the center, her children were not there. As she walked out of the building, she saw them. She said they rushed toward her.

She said they yelled “Mom, get us out of here!” She told the driver to lock the doors and drove them home.

But she claimed their path was blocked by a car belonging to her ex-husband’s staff. That’s when she decided to start a livestream and ask for help. She knew that doing so would risk breaching her agreement with the UAE authorities and potentially facing arrest, but she insisted it was her only way out.

Since then, she has stayed at home with her children and said she was afraid to go out for fear of being arrested. The three girls – aged nine, seven and six – have not been attending school.

The BBC has contacted a number of Emirati officials involved in the case for comment but has so far not received a reply. However, Sheikh Saeed’s perspective was clear from court testimony.

A recent report gives a very different version of what happened on November 8, alleging that Ms Javadli forced the children into her car with the help of the driver and then abducted them. It also accuses Ms Javadli of posting videos on social media in which she “insulted and defamed” her ex-husband and defamed the state and violated national laws.

Lawyers representing Sheikh Saeed had previously claimed in court that Ms Javadli was an unfit mother who did not send her daughter to school and put the youngest girl’s health at risk when she stayed in a hotel and stayed in an area unfit for the children.

Ms Javadli rejected the accusations and her Emirati legal team presented contrary evidence in court.

David Hague said there were other similar cases involving ex-wives of Dubai royals or other female family members. He himself has been involved in campaigning for several women. None of these cases involved Sheikh Saeed.

Princess Haya, the ex-wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, fled the UAE in 2019, saying she feared for her life. Three years later, the princess won a custody battle in the UK’s Supreme Court, ultimately gaining sole custody of her two children.

The most sensational saga is that of one of the daughters of Dubai’s ruler Princess Latifa, who in 2018 launched a campaign for freedom from what she then claimed was the coercive control of her family.

Her escape boat was intercepted in the Indian Ocean and she was forcibly returned to Dubai. She then claimed she was being held captive on secret videos. She has since reappeared in public on a limited basis, saying she is fine and living her life on her own terms.

Ms Javadli and David Haigh said Dubai portrays itself as promoting women’s rights and encouraging women, whether from the UAE or other countries, to live fulfilling lives both professionally and personally. For many people, there is no doubt that it is.

But they claim Ms Javadli’s case shows that beneath Dubai’s glamorous surface the situation can be more complex and uncomfortable for some women.