BBC airs program featuring exclusive new footage from Latifa in jail as former Irish President admits “I was horribly tricked” by the UAE.

The Free Latifa campaign is calling on the President of the United Arab Emirates, for the immediate release of Princess Latifa Al Maktoum following dramatic new developments revealed in a hard-hitting BBC Panorama programme this evening.

The 30-minute special, screened in primetime on the BBCs main national channel, featured powerful footage never seen before that was shot by the Princess from her jail in Dubai where she is being held captive, after Tiina Jauhiainen and David Haigh the co-founders of the Free Latifa campaign managed to smuggle a phone into the jail of the hostage Princess.

Latifa’s lawyer, David Haigh of Detained International, described the documentary and the extraordinary retractions of former Irish Prime Minster Mary Robinson as “a game-changer” and as “a defining moment in our campaign to free Latifa.”

He called on UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan to order the UAE Vice President and Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to release his hostage daughter without further delay and end “a horrendous period of parental and human rights abuse that has significantly damaged the reputation of the UAE and has disgusted the world.”

Latifa Al Maktoum, one of around 30 children of Sheikh Mohammed, has been held captive since her father’s forces combined with Indian commandos to raid a US-registered boat in international waters, in order to kidnap her and bring her back to Dubai.

The operation violated international rules and has been condemned by the United Nations.