A British court says that Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, ordered the abduction of two of his daughters and orchestrated a campaign of intimidation against his former wife.
This is how one of his daughters, Latifa, is said to have tried to escape him.
Lucy Fielder reports.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) PRINCESS SHEIKHA LATIFA BINT MOHAMMED AL-MAKTOUM, SAYING "Hello, my name is Latifa Al-Maktoum" It was like a movie plot: Sheikha Latifa, the daughter of Dubai's ruler, was to escape her father's clutches.
She and a friend planned it all in a hidden corner of a Dubai mall.
Latifa would don a disguise, they'd flee by car to the coast, take a dinghy and ride jetskis to a waiting boat that would spirit them to freedom.
They were helped by a French former spy.
But it failed.
They were captured off the coast of India in a special forces operation by India and the UAE, and forcibly returned to Dubai.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) PRINCESS SHEIKHA LATIFA BINT MOHAMMED AL-MAKTOUM, SAYING "Pretty soon, I'm going to be leaving somehow, and I'm not so sure of the outcome, but I'm 99% positive it will work.
And if it doesn't then this video can help me, because all my father cares about is his reputation.
He will kill people to protect his own reputation.
He only cares about himself and his ego.
So this video could save my life, and if you are watching this video it is not such a good thing.
Either I'm dead or I'm in a very, very, very bad situation." A British judge ruled on Thursday that Dubai's emir, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum abducted Latifa and subjected her to inhuman treatment.
As he had her sister Shamsa nearly two decades earlier.
He also threatened his wife, Princess Haya, seen here - who has now fled to London.
Latifa's friend and co-conspirator, Tiina Jauhiainen, told Reuters recently why she took the risk: (SOUNDBITE) FRIEND OF PRINCESS SHEIKHA LATIFA BINT MOHAMMED AL-MAKTOUM WHO HELPED PLAN HER ESCAPE ATTEMPT, TIINA JAUHIAINEN, SAYING: "Well, Latifa hadn't been allowed to leave Dubai since the year 2000.
And when she had attempted her first escape in 2002, as a result, she spent three and a half years in prison.
So, since then, she was not allowed to leave the country at all.
She was never allowed to hold her own passport." Judge Andrew McFarlane said he accepted as proved the allegations made by Princess Haya, including that he was holding both Latifa, and her sister Shamsa in Dubai - quote - deprived of their liberty.