Former Gymnast Javadli Faces Arrest, Custody Battle in UAE

For months, she had barely left the house as she believed security officers were waiting to take her children from her and put her under arrest. Javadli - a former international gymnast - has also been facing potential arrest for e-crimes - online offences - in the UAE after she livestreamed one of the showdowns last year. At the time she explained her actions in a video message to the British human rights lawyer David Haigh, who has been advocating for her: "I knew that it was the last chance to be with my children as they would never let me see them again. I genuinely believed that it was my last chance, so I just opened a livestream and called for help." Lawyers acting for Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum have claimed in court hearings in the custody case over their children that she was an unfit mother who had failed to send her daughters to school, was living in a place unsuitable for the children when she was in a hotel, and that she had put the health of the youngest girl at risk.