The ex-wife of a sheikh “disappears” in Dubai in a new scandal with the royal family and the treatment of his wives and daughters

Zeinab Javadli, ex-wife of a Dubai prince and former gymnast in Azerbaijan, her home country, Threatened by her ex-husband with the use of force if he did not hand over his three daughters and their guardianship. The prince is the nephew of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoumwho had a similar case with his ex-wife, Jordanian princess Haya Bint al-Hussein.

Zeinab Javadli has not been seen since Tuesday, according to her British adviser.

Her ex-husband, The new Saeed bin Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoumis a member of the ruling family of Dubai. He is a rider, businessman and former Olympic fencer. It owns internationally award-winning horses and a United Arab Emirates football club. He was born on October 1, 1976 in Dubai. His grandparents are Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum and Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Hamdan al-Nahyan.

Javadli’s lawyer, British jurist David Haigh, stated that the communication with his client and her daughters has been completely interrupted. According to the lawyer, the Dubai police and security forces Javadli’s house was suddenly raided late at night and they took her and her daughters away. Her mother, who had traveled to Dubai to support Zeinab, found the door to the house locked.

It is also said that the elderly woman was prohibited from leaving the country. The incident has already been reported to the United Nations (UN) and the corresponding legal procedures have been initiated.

Approximately two months before this incident, a court in Dubai ruled that the girls were to be given to their fatherSheikh Saeed. The document emphasized that, if necessary, the sentence could be enforced “by force.”

In April, Zeinab Javadli posted an emotional video on social media, expressing her fear that her daughters would be forcibly taken from her and asking the international community for help. Currently, the Dubai authorities and the Sheikh’s lawyers are silent.

This is not the first time Zeinab Javadli has experienced tension in her home. Last year, his home was raided in a similar manner. The athlete broadcast live on social media, showing the entire world that she and her daughters were under siege, subjected to harassment and pressure. He stated that he had been under virtual house arrest in Dubai for a long time.

David Haigh, a human rights activist, on Thursday expressed his “grave and urgent concern” for the safety and whereabouts of Zeinab Javadli.

Zeinab, Sheikh Saeed and their daughters lived in Dubai in a palace. Born on July 19, 1991, is a former Azerbaijani rhythmic gymnast. He is a medalist in World and European Championships.

Javadli was born in Baku. He participated in the 2006 European Championship in the youth category; He took 4th place in the World Club Championships held in Japan in 2006.

That same year, Javadli won four gold medals in the international tournament in Slovenia, proclaiming absolute champion. He also won silver and bronze medals in different modalities in the international tournament in Portugal and a gold medal in the international tournament in Bulgaria in the hoop modality. She is a bronze medalist at the international tournament held in Russia, where she received the title of “Miss Elegance.”

Javadli, 34, was warned two months ago in court documents that she would face “coercive force” if she did not abandon her efforts to obtain custody of her three daughters with Sheikh Saeed.

Haigh, a former British lawyer, said police had raided her home in Dubai and he had not been able to contact her since Tuesday.

“It’s confirmed, they took her,” he said. “Numerous friends and family have contacted me, but none have been able to locate her.”

Haigh added that Javadli’s mother traveled to Dubai on Wednesday: “She went to her daughter’s house and found it locked. Now she has been told she cannot leave Dubai.”

Javadli married Maktoum in 2015. They divorced in 2019.

In 2022, Javadli appealed to the United Nations Human Rights Council, alleging having suffered abuse, harassment and intimidation by the authorities.

Haigh stated: “I have supported Zeinab for many years. While we always hoped, a desperate hope, that she would be allowed to live peacefully with her daughters in Dubai, we also knew that the day could come when they would disappear. Or she would be kidnapped by the Dubai authorities, taken hostage, like so many women of the royal family of Dubai before her,” said the former lawyer.

Authorities in Dubai and the UAE embassy in London did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Haigh claimed that Javadli was a “sacrificing mother”, who “never stopped protecting her daughters. She recently protected her eldest daughter from the possibility of child marriage”.

The tradition in the emirates is that They marry girls to their cousins to maintain fortune, land and inheritance.

Sheikh Saeed’s lawyers had alleged that Javadli I was a negligent motherwho had not sent her daughters to school and had put the minor’s health at risk. It is understood she denied the allegations.

Human rights activists have expressed concern about several women linked to the Emirati royal familyallegedly victims of abuse or control.

The princess Haya Bint al-Hussein, ex-wife of Sheikh Mohammed and sister of King Abdullah of Jordan, fled the United Arab Emirates on a plane seven years ago, claiming he feared for his life. He arrived in London, tried him and obtained a divorce settlement of 700 million dollars at the High Court and his palace in Kensington Palace Gardens.

Princess Latifaone of Mohammed’s daughters, posted videos in which she claimed having been drugged and held captive by his father in a “village jail”, after trying to leave Dubai by jet ski and boat to India. She was returned by Indian special forces to Dubai.

Latifa, now 40, later issued a statement saying she was “living the way she wanted.” Nothing more was known about her.

The princess Shamsahis older sister, She was kidnapped at the age of 19 on a British street in Cambridge in August 2000, on the orders of his father, when he was fleeing his mansion. Since then, She has not been seen in public again.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, 76, He has married at least eleven women and has at least 26 children. Ruler of Dubai, accused of abuse, lost responsibility for children in Britain.