Germany: Alleged “torture and kidnapping” of Princess Latifah

Finland friend Princess Latifah, the daughter of Dubai’s ruler who was intercepted at sea while trying to help him escape from the Emirates, announced Thursday that she had filed a complaint in Germany for “torture and kidnapping.” In March 2018, the Princess LatifahMohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum’s daughter tried to flee the Emirates by boat with her Finnish capoeira coach, Tina Jouhian.

But on the night of March 4-5, their boat was intercepted by the Indian Navy, which towed the boat to the UAE. Tiina Jauhiainen says she was “arbitrarily arrested and tortured by Emirates security forces working alongside the Indian Navy”.

She says she was interrogated at length without a lawyer and forced to sign a confession by Emirates Services accusing her of “kidnapping” Princess Latifah. “Today I begin my fight for justice for what I did to help my friend Latifah,” he tweeted on Thursday. “My lawyers filed a complaint with the prosecutor in Germany to investigate those responsible, including the ruler of Dubai and Interpol chief (Ahmed Nasser) al-Raisi,” he added.

Finland’s lawyer, Elisabeth Beyer, pointed out that the complaint was based on universal judicial competence, which allows a state’s justice to punish perpetrators of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. “We hope that Germany’s law on international jurisdiction will help protect victims of torture, seek justice and close Germany’s doors to those who commit it,” he said in a press release.

The Central Public Prosecutor’s Office could not immediately confirm that the complaint had been filed. Princess Latifah said in a statement seen by AFP in February that she was “very well” and asked the media to respect her privacy.

Seized by the sixth wife of Dubai’s ruler, who took refuge in the British capital in 2019, the High Court in London ruled that Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum “exhibited persistent coercive and manipulative behavior towards members of his family”. deemed to be acting against his will”.

A French judge opened a new trial in late March against Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi, the Emirati head of Interpol, for “complicity in torture” after two Britons filed a complaint in the name of universal jurisdiction.