Captain Herve Jaubert is the former French spy who masterminded Sheikha Latifa's doomed escape attempt. He is her official representative and closest confidant. He felt obliged in this respect to speak out on her behalf in regards to the upcoming custody and divorce battle between Sheikh Mohammed and his escaped wife, Princess Haya
“Even if partial or shared custody were granted, I am certain that the first time the children went to the UAE they would become captives and never allowed to see Princess Haya again” - Hervé Jaubert
Hervé Jaubert statement on the cases of Princess Haya and Princess Latifa:
“Because Latifa Al Maktoum is tragically unable to testify before a UK court, as her official representative I have the responsibility of sharing the history that Latifa has revealed to me over our 8 year association and friendship.
“Latifa is the daughter of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and I am the Captain of Nostromo, the yacht which Latifa and I used for her (ultimately doomed) escape attempt last year. I have direct authority to speak on Latifa’s behalf and am the only person to be given this duty by Sheikha Latifa herself.
“Latifa described to me how her sister Shamsa was kidnapped from Cambridge by her father's men in 2000. Princess Shamsa was brought back illegally to Dubai where she has been detained for 8 years and controlled with psychotic drugs. Latifa told me how her father ordered nurses and doctors to use major tranquilizers to turn Shamsa into a docile and subdued woman.
“Latifa described to me how she herself was arrested and tortured by her father's men after she tried to run away via the Oman border in 2006. Latifa was detained in solitary confinement in an extrajudicial private prison within her father's palace compound for almost 3 and a half years. She was tortured at her father’s instruction. She was told many times that her father did not care if she was beaten to death. She was still a teenager.
“Latifa told me of years of abuse and violations of her most basic human rights at the hands of her father.
“Last year, Latifa made an attempt to escape from Dubai and after a carefully planned operation, made it onboard my vessel, the US flagged yacht Nostromo. A week later on the way to safe haven in Sri Lanka, we came under attack from Sheikh Mohammed’s naval forces. This was an unprecedented military raid in international waters to abduct a screaming and terrified Latifa plus all other souls on board.
“This criminal attack was ordered by Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum and executed in collusion with the Indian Coast Guards and Indian special forces in direct violation of international agreements and maritime laws.
“If we hadn’t managed to get in touch with Radha Stirling, who immediately got our story featured in worldwide media, I feel sure that we all would have been killed, the ship sunk, and nobody would ever have known what happened. Thanks to Radha we are all still alive and able to share our experiences at the hands of Sheikh Mohammed’s thugs.
“While in (illegal) detention, the Dubai prison officials told me, 'you saw how he (Sheikh Mohammed) got you, you saw his power, if you speak, he can get you anywhere'.
“The official statement from Sheikh Mohammed’s office says that Latifa had been “taken back” and brought to the family where she was 'happy' and under psychiatric care.
“It is clear to me and other experienced observers that Latifa Al Maktoum is being detained incommunicado and undoubtedly forcibly put under psychotic drugs the same way Shamsa was, and therefore is prevented from testifying before the UK court in a custody hearing between her father and Princess Haya, her step mother.
“The UK courts should bear in mind when determining Sheikh Mohammed’s suit for custody over his and Princess Haya’s children that this is a man who kidnapped his own daughters because no legal process could return them to him. This is a man who has used psychotic drugs on at least three of his daughters to subdue them. This is a man who has jailed his own daughters and even had them tortured.
“Sheikh Mohammed disregards any foreign laws when they don't fit his agenda. The same way he disregarded UK laws to kidnap Shamsa in Cambridge, and the same way he disregarded international laws (in International Waters) to kidnap Latifa from a vessel under US jurisdiction.
“It is inconceivable to me that any court in Great Britain, free from undue political influence, could grant custody of those children to Sheikh Mohammed under any circumstances. If custody was granted I do not believe that Princess Haya would ever see her children again.
“Even if partial or shared custody were granted, I am certain that the first time the children went to the UAE they would become captives and never allowed to see their mother, Princess Haya, again.”