This Is How the Ruler of Dubai Lost His Judicial Battles and His Reputation in London

The Dictator movie, which was shown in Britain in 2012, by actor Sacha Baron, starkly embodies the character of a dictator who behaves strangely. It depicts how a dictator can become a self-deceptive person, believing that everything he does is right, and wondering why the real tyrants in the world are doing strange and unfamiliar acts.

This is a typical character of the ruler of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (bin Rashid) who  was born in 1949. He is known for his very strange personality, being unusual for politicians, interested in literature, writing poetry and prose, and keen to appear as a good ruler who is interested in the happiness of citizens and human development in his country.

Yet behind the scenes, he adopts a completely awkward behavior, sometimes imprisoning his daughters, sometimes abusing his ex-wife, chasing her and spying on her, as well as his involvement in a great injustice in the labor sectors.

The controversial life of bin Rashid went beyond the borders of his country to the arenas of British courts. The Emirati ruler became controversial and notorious in England and in the world at large, due to the number of cases filed against him, and the attention major international newspapers gave to his scandals.

 

New Defeat

The ruler of Dubai, bin Rashid, was defeated after a long and costly legal battle in the corridors of British courts between him and his ex-wife, Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, the half-sister of the Jordanian monarch, King Abdullah bin Al Hussein.

On March 24, 2022, the British judiciary approved its ruling granting the ex-wife of the ruler of Dubai sole custody of their two children, after concluding that bin Rashid had severely abused his ex-wife, Princess Haya.

This ended a three-year battle in the High Court in London, which was the focus of British and international newspapers.

The case touched on very critical details, including accusations of kidnapping and death threats, and shameful rumors spread by bin Rashid and his media about the princess's relationship with her bodyguard, in addition to charges of blackmail, espionage and hacking phones using advanced methods.

During his ruling, the British judge concluded that the ruler of Dubai had raised Princess Haya’s fear for her life, kidnapped two daughters from another marriage, severely mistreated them, and ordered the monitoring of the princess’s phone and the phones of her lawyer, using the Israeli Pegasus spy program.

The court ruled that bin Rashid, who is also the Vice President, Prime Minister, and Minister of Defense of the Emirates, pay a record sum of more than 554 million pounds ($731 million) to secure and care for the two children, as well as compensation for the material and psychological damages caused to Princess Haya.

As for the case itself, the British newspaper The Guardian reported that it cost more than 70 million pounds (92.30 million dollars), in legal fees.

According to Reuters agency, the ruling ruled that the princess alone should decide all matters related to the education and health of the two children, Jalila and Zayed, with the father informed of their affairs only.

The father's relationship with the two children will be limited to phone calls and messages, after he himself decided not to communicate directly with them.

It is reported that Princess Haya fled the Emirates in 2019, and settled in the United Kingdom with her two children, and as soon as she arrived, she requested that the two children be placed under the guardianship of the court.

The Supreme Court has since called for investigations about bin Rashid.

 

Arrogant Man

The judicial battles of the ruler of Dubai in the British courts did not stop at his thorny case with Princess Haya only. On March 17, 2022, the British newspaper, The Telegraph announced that bin Rashid was facing a fierce dispute with the country’s labor unions, due to the expulsion of one of the companies owned by his government towards 800 workers at once.

The newspaper said that the Pride of Canterbury company working in the field of shipping, decided to dismiss 800 employees working on its ships.

It added that the pretext of the company was that hundreds of employees no longer “qualified,” although the real reason is to find workers with lower salaries.

The Telegraph stated that "due to the company's decision to dismiss 800 employees, work has been disrupted, and all flights have been canceled for at least a week."

The issue of the company owned by the ruler of Dubai escalated, and the British government intervened. A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his condemnation of the actions of the company (P & O), saying that it was "totally unacceptable".

Transportation Secretary Robert Curtis said he was "deeply concerned and outraged by P&O's treatment of its workforce."

The British RMT union, specializing in the issues of strikes, is also preparing to enter into the dispute against the ruler of Dubai, a union known to pursue permanent strikes.

What confirms that political and influential figures in Britain entered the confrontation line with bin Rashid, is what the Conservative MP, Roger Gill, did, urging the government to "stand up against the company and to oblige it to implement the British labor law."

"The way they've acted is absolutely appalling, I think most likely is this rich owner saying, 'Okay, I do what I like,'" Gill stressed.

He added, "This is precisely why bin Rashid is unpopular…In any case, he is an arrogant, not very nice man."

 

Tortured His Daughter

On February 16, 2021, bin Rashid was on a date with another scandal, this time related to his daughter Latifa.

The American network, NBC, published a leak of the daughter of the ruler of Dubai, in which she said that she "is being held in a fortified house, and does not want to be a hostage in a villa like a prison, but rather wants to be free."

She added that she "does not know what they are planning to do with me," and stated that "her life is threatened and in grave danger."

This clip, which sparked an international uproar, and caused severe embarrassment for the Emirati political leadership, also prompted a group of British human rights lawyers, and students at the British University of Louisville, to file a complaint calling for Dubai’s ruler to be banned from entering the country, but it has not been issued yet.

This is something that bin Rashid faced in an exciting and reprehensible manner, when he issued a statement questioning the mental abilities of his daughter.

On February 19, 2021, he broke his silence after the scandal of his daughter Latifa, when he ordered the UAE embassy in London to issue a statement, saying that "Sheikha Latifa Al Maktoum, one of the daughters of the ruler of Dubai, receives psychological and health care at home under the care of doctors."

The embassy claimed that "media coverage does not reflect the real situation."

Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, tweeted at the time that "the tall buildings in Dubai should not obscure the fact that Bin Rashid has locked up his daughter, Princess Latifa."

He stressed that "the Gulf state detains those who criticize the authorities, hundreds of activists and academics are serving lengthy sentences, and in many cases, vague and meaningless accusations are raised against dissidents."