Ex-wife of Dubai ruler's nephew arrested in custody dispute

The ex-wife of a nephew of Dubai’s ruler has been arrested following a long-running custody battle, prosecutors in the UAE said on Friday.

Zeynab Javadli was detained after her former husband, Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, accused her of abducting their three children.

“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,” said a statement sent to AFP.

“The matter remains under investigation and is subject to ongoing legal proceedings.”

Since late 2025 Javadli, a former international gymnast from Azerbaijan, has posted several Instagram posts with her daughters, in which she pleads for help and accuses her ex-husband of taking them away.

But a lawyer for Sheikh Saeed, a nephew of Dubai’s ruler and United Arab Emirates Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, said he was awarded custody of the three girls in 2022.

The decision was upheld on appeal and later confirmed by the Dubai Court of Cassation, Sheikh Saeed’s lawyer Mahmood Hussain said in a statement sent to AFP.

“Despite these rulings, Ms. Javadli abducted the three children during a court-approved temporary visitation session in 2025,” the statement said.

“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.”

David Haigh, Javadli’s British-based human rights lawyer, said the children, the eldest of whom is nine, had lived with their mother “their entire lives”.

He said Sheikh Mohammed “personally intervened” in 2022 to give her full custody, without providing evidence. The alleged abduction took place in November, he added, questioning why she was only arrested months later.

“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,” Haigh said in a statement.

“Above all, we are calling on the UAE to release Zeynab immediately to her home in Dubai and to reunite her with her children,” he added.

According to reports, the couple divorced in 2019 and in 2022 Javadli appealed to the United Nations Human Rights Council to intervene in the custody dispute.