Although a member of the royal family and apart from being a prominent real estate developer in the UAE, being the owner of Al Hekma Tower in Dubai, Issa bin Zayed holds no official or political position within the government of the United Arab Emirates.
[1] In April 2009, Issa bin Zayed was subject to a controversy in which a video tape of torture smuggled out of the United Arab Emirates to the United States by two Palestinian brothers, who were his business associates, showed Issa mercilessly torturing a man with whips, electric cattle prods, and wooden planks with protruding nails and running him over repeatedly with an SUV.
[2] Issa bin Zayed was initially put under arrest with the UAE government stating that matters were resolved "privately".
One of the Palestinian brothers, Nabulsi, claimed Issa bin Zayed breached his contract and subjected him to torture, emotional distress, and malicious prosecution and demanded $80 million in repatriation.
[2] Emirati court found Issa not guilty on the principle of diminished responsibility and instead condemned and sentenced the two brothers for using the video as blackmail and extortion.
Issa is the subject of an assault, libel, and slander lawsuit brought on by businessman Bassam Nabulsi of Houston, Texas, a former long-term adviser to the Al Nahyan family, filed on 16 August 2006 in District Court for the Southern District of Texas Houston Division for Assault, Libel, and Slander.
[9][10] The lawsuit was dismissed on 12 June 2009 by district judge Sim Lake for "lack of personal jurisdiction and proper service of process.
[17][18] In the video, taken at some time in 2005,[10] Issa is shown beating another man, an Afghan grain merchant called Mohammed Shah Poor, with a wooden plank with protruding nails, firing an automatic weapon into the sand around him and forcing a cattle prod into his anus before turning it on.
"[18] Responding to the government statement, Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch stated "If this is their complete reply, then sadly it's a scam and it's a sham.
[26] The brothers Ghassan and Bassam Nabulsi were both sentenced in absentia to five years[27] for "drugging, recording and publishing a video and blackmail".
[5] The US state department has expressed concern over the verdict and said all members of Emirati society "must stand equal before the law" and called for a careful review of the decision to ensure that the demands of justice are fully met in this case.