UK Lawsuit Filed Against UAE Over Detention of Egyptian Poet and Activist Abdelrahman El-Qaradawi
British lawyers seek criminal investigation into alleged abduction, torture, and illegal transfer of El-Qaradawi from Lebanon to the UAE.
Watan-The lawyers for Egyptian poet and activist Abdelrahman El-Qaradawi, who has reportedly been held in solitary confinement without charges in the United Arab Emirates for over 100 days, have filed a legal challenge in the United Kingdom against UAE authorities.
The lawsuit was filed last Friday on behalf of El-Qaradawi, a fierce critic of the Egyptian government who had been residing in Turkey.
The case urges London’s Metropolitan Police to open a criminal investigation into allegations of the activist’s kidnapping, torture, and illegal transfer to the UAE.
El-Qaradawi was arrested in Lebanon on December 28 while returning from Syria.
He had traveled to Syria to participate in celebrations following the fall of ousted president Bashar al-Assad in a swift offensive by opposition fighters.
UK Lawyers Demand Investigation into Alleged Kidnapping of Abdelrahman El-Qaradawi by UAE and Lebanon
On January 8, the Lebanese Cabinet deported him to the United Arab Emirates.
His lawyer stated that El-Qaradawi has been held in solitary confinement since then, “without charges, due process, and under coercion,” adding that these actions amount to torture under international law.
His lawyer, Rodney Dixon, said:”Abdelrahman was taken from his family, forcibly transported across borders, and thrown into solitary confinement in a country where he holds no citizenship, with no evidence of any crime. This is not an extradition—it is a kidnapping in broad daylight.”
Dixon is pressing British police to open an investigation under the UK’s universal jurisdiction laws, which allow governments to prosecute individuals for the most serious crimes regardless of where they were committed.
The lawsuit names the UAE Ministry of Interior, former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati—who approved El-Qaradawi’s transfer—and RoyalJet, the company that provided the private jet used for the transfer, as responsible parties.
