Dubai authorities detain ex-wife of royal in custody dispute

Friends and relatives had not heard from Zeynab Javadli since Tuesday, deepening alarm around a custody dispute that has pulled one of Dubai’s ruling families into a fight over three young daughters. Dubai Public Prosecution said Javadli was detained after a complaint filed by her former husband, Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, a nephew of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

The case has become a test of how much daylight exists around family disputes involving powerful households. Javadli and Sheikh Saeed divorced in 2019, but the conflict over their children did not end there. Authorities said the complaint centered on allegations that Javadli abducted the girls during a court-approved visitation session. Reporting on the dispute has described the children as having been passed between the parents several times, with each side accusing the other of kidnapping. Dubai Public Prosecution said the matter remained under investigation and subject to ongoing legal proceedings, while stressing that it would take legal measures with the children’s wellbeing and best interests in mind.

In recent court hearings, lawyers for Sheikh Saeed reportedly argued that Javadli was an unfit mother, alleging that she had not sent the girls to school and had lived in unsuitable accommodation while staying in a hotel. They also said the health of the youngest girl had been put at risk. Related reporting in 2025 said a Dubai court ordered custody of the daughters to Sheikh Saeed and authorized police to enforce the ruling, underscoring how the dispute had already moved from private conflict to state-backed enforcement.

Javadli also faced possible arrest in the United Arab Emirates over alleged e-crimes after livestreaming one of the custody confrontations last year. Earlier reporting said she had raised the matter with the United Nations Human Rights Council through her lawyers. In 2022, BBC-linked reporting said Javadli described herself as trapped in Dubai and feared she and her children could be separated if she left the country.

Her lawyer, British human rights lawyer David Haigh, urged immediate access to counsel, her consulate and her family, and called for her release back to her home in Dubai. Javadli, a former international rhythmic gymnast from Azerbaijan, has become a public face of a dispute that exposes how vulnerable custody, mobility and due process can be when elite family power collides with the legal system.