A new call from the wife of the grandson of the founder of the State of Qatar

Pressure is mounting on Doha over the case of Sheikh Talal Al Thani - the grandson of the founder of the State of Qatar - after his wife "Asma Arian" filed an appeal for his release at the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday.

"My husband needs urgent medical care and a lawyer to choose him freely," she told the United Nations in Geneva via a video tape. "He was arbitrarily sentenced to 22 years in prison while he was in incommunicado detention and he suffers from severe medical conditions in prison." 

I’m grateful to the UN Human Rights Council for inviting me to give a statement on the report by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on its country visit to Qatar. 

Please find it published here, as well.@UN_HRC @UN_SPExperts @MOI_Qatar @mojgovqa https://t.co/qrdPeP6tKK pic.twitter.com/i2abjUs9Mt

— Asma Arian (@asma_germany) September 21, 2020

In addition, Asma, who is engaged in a struggle against the Qatari authorities, explained in an interview with "Fox News" yesterday evening that Sheikh Talal is being held in an unknown facility and that his health is deteriorating due to torture and ill-treatment in prison.

She also stressed that "her husband's case is important not only because of his political situation but also because Qatar's numerous and continuous violations of the basic human rights of our family represent deep-rooted systemic problems with the Qatari government and the justice system."

In addition, she said that after Sheikh Talal was arrested, the Qatari authorities sent her while she was pregnant, with three young children at the time, to "an uninhabitable house in the desert without air conditioners, pests and sewage water." "My children and I became seriously ill there and were denied basic medical care," she added.

Asma also received threatening letters believed to be from the Qatari royal family - and Fox News reviewed them - with the aim of dissuading her from continuing to launch a public campaign to release her husband.

Asma and her children now live under the protection of the security authorities in Germany, and the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Doha and its embassies in Berlin, Brussels and Washington did not respond to Fox News' request for comment on the case.

While the German Foreign Ministry said to the US network that it is aware of the case, but it did not provide any additional comment.

Malicious lawsuits

The Qatari authorities had imprisoned Sheikh Talal bin Abdulaziz bin Ahmed bin Ali Al Thani in 2013 on charges of non-payment of debts.

His wife and her American attorney, Mark Somos, who was on the faculty at Harvard Law School, strongly rejects the accusations. The lawyer confirms that the mysterious justice system in Qatar carried out malicious and politically motivated cases against the Sheikh.

Urgent appeals

In the context, Somos told Fox News that they have submitted other urgent appeals to other UN human rights bodies, including the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Special Rapporteur on torture, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges, in addition to the Human Rights Council.

He continued, "We call on Qatar to release Sheikh Talal and allow him to reunite with his family in Germany," adding that "until his release, he must have immediate access to means of communication with his family, the independent medical staff and a lawyer of his choice. And his legal team must be allowed access to." Legal and medical records during his arbitrary detention. "

It is noteworthy that a United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges was appointed to inspect the judiciary in Qatar in 2014. The rapporteur noted the existence of some legal deficiencies, including the inappropriate influence on the judiciary.

While it is extremely difficult to document any direct interference with the independence of judges, reports on pressures exerted by the executive authority on the work of the judiciary, particularly in cases involving influential people, are a source of concern for the Special Rapporteur.

According to what Special Rapporteur Gabriela Knoll wrote at the time, "For example, in 2009, 33 Qatari judges reportedly resigned in protest of what they described as continued interference in their work."

It is noteworthy that Talal Al Thani is the son of the former Qatari Minister of Health, Abdulaziz bin Ahmed bin Ali Al Thani, and he is also the grandson of the former Emir of Qatar, Ahmed bin Ali Al Thani.