Ex-wife of Dubai ruler’s nephew detained in child custody case

ABU DHABI: The former wife of a nephew of Dubai’s ruler has been taken into custody in the United Arab Emirates after her ex-husband accused her of abducting their three children, prosecutors said on Friday.

Dubai Public Prosecution said Zeynab Javadli was detained after a complaint was filed by Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who alleged that she took the children during a court-authorised visitation session. The prosecution said the case remained under investigation and legal proceedings were continuing.

In a statement sent to AFP, the prosecution said:

Dubai Public Prosecution confirms that Ms. Zeynab Javadli has been taken into custody, following a complaint filed by the father of her three children alleging that she abducted the children during a court-approved visitation session. The matter remains under investigation and is subject to ongoing legal proceedings.

Competing accounts in custody dispute

Javadli, a former international gymnast from Azerbaijan, has since late 2025 shared Instagram posts featuring her daughters in which she appealed for help and accused her former husband of taking the children away.

Mahmood Hussain, a lawyer for Sheikh Saeed, said his client had been granted custody of the three girls in 2022. According to Hussain, that ruling was later upheld by an appeals court and confirmed by the Dubai Court of Cassation.

In the lawyer’s statement sent to AFP, he said:

Despite these rulings, Ms. Javadli abducted the three children during a court-approved temporary visitation session in 2025. She subsequently published a series of videos on social media containing defamatory allegations against the children’s father, which exposed the children to public scrutiny and emotional strain. Consequently, the father, my client, was compelled to file a legal complaint against Ms. Javadli for abducting the children.

Javadli’s British-based human rights lawyer, David Haigh, disputed that account. He said the children, whose eldest is nine, had lived with their mother throughout their lives. He also alleged that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and prime minister of the UAE, had personally intervened in 2022 to award full custody to Sheikh Saeed, though he did not provide evidence.

Lawyer calls for access and release

Haigh also said the alleged abduction occurred in November and questioned why Javadli was arrested only months later.

In a statement, he said:

We call upon the UAE authorities to grant Zeynab immediate access to legal representation. We call upon the Azerbaijani government to secure immediate consular access. Above all, we are calling on the UAE to release Zeynab immediately to her home in Dubai and to reunite her with her children.

According to reports cited in the source material, the couple divorced in 2019. In 2022, Javadli also appealed to the United Nations Human Rights Council to intervene in the custody dispute.