This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Mary Robinson has rejected accusations that she acted as a pawn of the United Arab Emirates by posing for pictures with a princess who is allegedly being held at home against her will.

The former president of Ireland issued a statement on Friday defending her supervised encounter with Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum during a visit to Dubai just before Christmas.

“I am dismayed at some of the media comments on my visit and I would like to say I undertook the visit and made an assessment, not a judgement, based on personal witness, in good faith and to the best of my ability,” the statement said.

Robinson, a former UN high commissioner for human rights, triggered widespread scepticism and scorn on Thursday by telling the BBC the princess was “in the loving care of her family”.

Rights campaigners accused Robinson of blundering and becoming a willing pawn for the UAE’s ruling family in a public relations battle.

Until Robinson’s intervention Princess Latifa, 33, a daughter of Dubai’s ruler, had not been heard from since she was allegedly seized from a yacht off the coast of India in March.

In a video that she instructed friends to release in case an attempt to escape Dubai went wrong, the princess said she had spent seven years trying to flee a gilded prison and feared torture if captured.

The UAE government released three photographs of Princess Latifa alongside Robinson on Christmas Eve.

The former Irish president told the BBC that Princess Haya, one of the Sheikh’s wives and someone she had known for a long time, asked her to come to Dubai to help with a “family dilemma”.

Robinson said Princess Latifa was troubled, regretted the video and the planned escape, and was receiving psychiatric care. She said she had sent a report to Michelle Bachelet, the current UN high commissioner for human rights, and had spoken to Bachelet’s predecessor, the Jordanian royal Zeid Raad al-Hussein.

Critics said the climate change crusader brushed over credible allegations of unlawful attacks and abductions in international waters and should not have endorsed the UAE version without a proper investigation.

Robinson’s statement said she attended the meeting without hesitation and had received extensive briefings in Dubai.

“It was clear to me that Princess Haya had particular concern for the welfare of Sheikha Latifa whom she described as troubled and quite vulnerable. During my time with her, Sheikha Latifa presented as a very likeable young woman with a wide range of interests, but her vulnerability was apparent.”