Al-Thani family contracts prestigious law firm in bid to free jailed son

The Al-Thani family has hired a lawyer from the firm that has defended Cristiano Ronaldo and Julio Iglesias to try to get Rakan Al-Thani, son of Malaga CF owner Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani, out of prison.

Rakan was remanded in custody without bail last Thursday and is being held at Madrid V prison in Soto del Real. Prosecutors are seeking 14 and a half years in prison for him, his brothers Nasser and Nayef and their father over their running of the club, on charges of misappropriation, unfair management and imposing abusive agreements.

The case goes back to February 2020, when a court placed the club under judicial administration and appointed José María Muñoz to run it, ending the family’s control. Rakan kept a lower profile than his brothers, although he sat on the board.

Javier Velasco Almendral, of Javier Choclán’s law firm, has now joined the proceedings, according to ABC. Besides Ronaldo and Iglesias, the firm’s clients have included businessman Víctor de Aldama, Gürtel corruption case ringleader Francisco Correa and former Madrid regional president Cristina Cifuentes.

Rakan signed a power of attorney in Velasco’s favour on 15 September at Landshut prison in Germany, three days after his arrest at Munich airport as he was about to board a flight to Doha. However, he had no way of formalising it before a Spanish notary or court official.

As a result, a court-appointed lawyer and an Arabic interpreter assisted him at last week’s hearing, which he attended by videoconference on crutches following a recent operation. He insisted he was innocent, but judge María de los Ángeles Ruiz ruled that the family had deliberately stalled the case and that Rakan had tried to evade justice. The prosecutor, Malaga city hall and the club’s small shareholders’ association (APA) had all pushed for him to be jailed.

Velasco wants Rakan summoned as soon as possible, in prison or by videoconference, to ratify the power of attorney. He also argues that Rakan was never personally notified of the ruling to take the case to trial under the shortened procedure, and has asked for it to be served with an Arabic interpreter present.

Court sources have said that if the other defendants are not found soon, the trial will go ahead with those present.

Meanwhile, Abdullah, who often posts cryptic messages on social media, has not commented on his son’s situation. His latest post read: “An empire of appearances can survive a thousand accusations. Its greatest weakness is independent scrutiny. Let the buried records see the light of day. If the foundations are rotten, the evidence will speak far louder than the first accusation.”