Hay Festival worker accuses minister of sexual assault

The Hay Festival has severed ties with the United Arab Emirates following accusations that one of the kingdom's ministers sexually assaulted a member of festival staff.

 

Festival Worker Caitlin McNamara claims that the UAE's tolerance minister Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, assaulted her when she visited him at a private island villa, ostensibly to discuss the Hay Festival's first event in Abu Dhabi.

 

An annual literary festival in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, The Hay Festival had begun to expand into the UAE with the encouragement of the Emirati government. Caroline Michel said the Hay Festival will not run any events in the UAE while Sheikh Nahyan remains in post as a government minister. Ms Michel, who chairs the Festival, described the alleged incident, if true, as "an appalling violation and a hideous abuse of trust and position. Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan made a mockery of his ministerial responsibilities and tragically undermined his government's attempt to work with Hay Festival to promote free speech and female empowerment."

 

Speaking in an interview with a national newspaper, Ms McNamara said felt she had, "nothing to lose and so waived her legal right to anonymity as an alleged victim. "I want to do this because I want to highlight the effect of powerful men like him doing things like that and thinking they can get away with it," she claimed.

 

The festival worker described the alleged attack on Valentine's Day as "creepy" and "forceful", saying that when she arrived at his home on a secluded private island, he invited her inside before allegedly assaulting her on a sofa and in a gold elevator. Ms McNamara said that since the incident she had lost her job, broken up with her boyfriend, and felt she could never return to the Emirates.

 

Sheikh Nahyan denies the allegations. His representative at Schillings, a London libel law firm, said, "Our client is surprised and saddened by this allegation, which arrives eight months after the alleged incident and via a national newspaper. The account is denied."

 

Ms McNamara has since been interviewed by Scotland Yard in connection with the alleged incident and has been put in contact with a human rights lawyer, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC.  Lady Kennedy said that, if guilty, the UAE "should sack him immediately" but added, "I suspect that will not happen. His family owns the country."

 

Sheikh Nahyan's family has ruled Abu Dhabi since 1793. He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, before returning to the UAE to begin a career in public life.

 

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police stated, "On Friday July 3, a woman contacted the Metropolitan Police Service to report an allegation of rape in the United Arab Emirates in February 2020. An initial statement has been taken from the woman."

 

 

E&K Solicitors

Rusholme