MPs today called on the police to reopen their investigation into the kidnapping of the daughter of the billionaire ruler of Dubai who was snatched from the streets of Cambridge.
A High Court judge yesterday ruled that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum had abducted and detained two of his adult daughters.
He found that the 70-year-old Sheikh, a friend of the Queen, ordered Princess Shamsa to be abducted from Cambridge in 2000.
The princess, then 19, said armed bodyguards grabbed her, injected her with sedatives and took her to Dubai, where she was tortured.
Yesterday’s judgment raised questions about whether the Foreign Office blocked the investigation by Cambridgeshire Constabulary.
Sheikha Shamsa, now 38, has not been seen in public since the abduction.
Conservative MP Nickie Aiken, who sits on the Commons Women and Equalities Committee, said: “This case clearly demonstrates that no matter what a woman’s background, education or status, domestic abuse does not discriminate. I certainly think that Cambridgeshire Constabulary should consider reopening the case.”
A spokeswoman for Cambridgeshire Constabulary said there was “insufficient evidence to take any further action”. She also said the force was not in contact with the victim and the court’s findings did not change the status of their investigation.
According to the judgment Sheikh Mohammed “ordered and orchestrated” the abduction and forced return to Dubai of Shamsa in 2002, and then her sister Sheikha Latifa in 2018.
Princess Latifa was seized by Indian soldiers from a yacht 30 miles off Goa and forcibly returned to Dubai.
Tiina Jauhiainen, who tried to help her escape, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Now finally the whole world knows that Sheikh Mohammed did indeed kidnap two of his daughters Latifa and Shamsa and he can no longer cover up the abuses.”
Labour former cabinet minister Lord Adonis told the Standard: “The British Government should obviously now ban [Sheikh Mohammed] and his associates from entering the UK. Our royal family treat him as friends and our government allows him to come in and out of the country freely. The hypocrisy and double standards are truly disgraceful.”
The kidnappings emerged out of the Sheikh’s legal battle with his sixth wife, Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, 45, over their daughter Jalila, 12, and son Zayed, eight.
Sir Andrew McFarlane, the most senior family judge in England and Wales, was asked to make findings of fact about the Sheikh in relation to his application for contact with the children.
Sir Andrew said the Foreign Office had confirmed it held information about the inquiry into Shamsa’s alleged kidnapping but had refused to disclose it, citing British national interests.
Sheikh Mohammed said in a statement last night that the judgment “inevitably only tells one side” since as a head of government he could not take part in the process.
