The former wife of a member of Dubai’s ruling family has raised fears that she could be arrested after her ex-husband filed a criminal complaint accusing her of kidnapping their three young daughters.
Zeynab Javadli, who divorced Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum in 2019, has been locked in a protracted and bitter custody dispute with the senior royal, who is the nephew of Dubai’s ruler. Tensions have escalated sharply in recent weeks as the children have been moved repeatedly between both parents, each accusing the other of abducting them.
Ms Javadli now also faces possible charges relating to e-crimes after she livestreamed the latest confrontation between the pair. She said she understood the risks of going public but felt she had no other choice.
“I knew it was my last chance to be with my children,” she said in a video message sent to her British lawyer, David Haigh. “I genuinely believed they would never let me see them again, so I opened a livestream and called for help.”
Ms Javadli, speaking from her home in Dubai, claims she and her daughters have been isolated there since she took the children back after they had spent several weeks with their father. She had previously held effective custody under an arrangement she says was approved in 2022 by Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
According to her, the agreement guaranteed her custody until the children turned 18, as well as a house and other support, while their father continued to pay for their schooling. In return, Mr Haigh says she signed documents committing not to speak to the media or conduct further livestreams.
However, a later court ruling granted custody to Sheikh Saeed. Ms Javadli says she was reassured by those involved in the case that her earlier agreement with the ruler would remain intact—until the situation abruptly changed two months ago.
During a routine visitation, she says she received a message via Dubai police stating that the children would not be returned to her that day. She heard nothing further for several weeks.
A visitation was eventually scheduled for 8 November at a child protection centre. Ms Javadli says that upon her arrival, her daughters were nowhere to be found, but she encountered them as she exited the building. According to her, the girls ran toward her, calling: “Mama, take us from here!”
She instructed her driver to lock the car doors and drive away, but alleges that vehicles belonging to her ex-husband’s associates blocked the path. It was at that moment she began livestreaming, fully aware she risked breaching her signed agreement and potentially facing arrest.
Since then, she says she has remained inside her home with her daughters, afraid to leave. The three girls—aged nine, seven and six—have not attended school during this period.
Ms Javadli maintains that she acted out of fear for her children’s wellbeing and insists the livestream was her only means of seeking help as the high-stakes custody battle continues to unfold.
Melissa Enoch
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