SHARJAH // A South African woman being tried on charges of illicit sex - zina under Sharia law - and abortion should be freed because legal requirements to convict her have not been met, her lawyer argued yesterday.
Sharjah prosecutors have charged MB with zina and aborting a four-month-old foetus by ingesting abortion pills. She had become pregnant after consensually agreeing to an adulterous relationship with an unidentified man, they alleged.
Sharjah public prosecutors were asked to present four eyewitnesses in the case of MB, a 25-year-old receptionist arrested after checking into Al Qassimi hospital in Sharjah on September 7 while haemorrhaging profusely.
Abortion is strictly prohibited under UAE and Islamic law, except in extreme circumstances.
The defence lawyer, Haroon Tahlak, asked the Sharjah Court of First Instance to acquit MB after prosecutors failed to produce the eyewitnesses, a Sharia requirement for one to be convicted on the zina charge.
He also dismissed the abortion accusation, saying the prosecution had not provided a legal doctor's examination report as proof.
"This is a Sharia court and the witnesses we need here must have seen MB in action," he told the court. "Four people seeing, your Honour, not two or three. Sharia law does not base evidence on people's thoughts."
Mr Tahlak urged the court to be lenient with his client, a non-Muslim raised in a Christian country whom he said had little prior knowledge of Sharia law.
He cited Islamic hadiths proving his argument. According to Sharia law, even Muslims who have committed zina without knowledge of it being illegal can avoid punishment.
Regarding the charge of abortion, Mr Tahlak said the pills she ingested had not been identified forensically as abortion pills, so the charge was unsubstantiated. He also said MB's work as a receptionist involved her climbing two flights of stairs every day, which may have resulted in the miscarriage.
The punishment for committing adultery is 100 lashes for unmarried persons and stoning to death for married persons.
A December 2006 amendment to the federal penal code prevents non-Muslims from being lashed. However, this amendment revokes the punishment under federal law in non-Sharia cases, such as drink driving. The Sharjah legal system views adultery as a Sharia case, even if the offence was committed by a non-Muslim.
According to prosecution records, an ambulance was called for MB by her flatmates after she started to haemorrhage. Tests revealed that MB had undergone a second-trimester abortion. Doctors reported the results to police, who immediately detained MB.
MB told prosecutors she had met an American guest at a Dubai hotel during the summer, who invited her for an evening out. During the course of the evening, records showed, the woman engaged in a sexual relationship and never saw the man again.
The case was adjourned until December 29.
* With reporting by Awad Mustafa
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Nationality: Emirati
Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn
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1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List
James Mustich, Workman
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Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
Fixtures
50-over match
UAE v Lancashire, starts at 10am
Champion County match
MCC v Surrey, four-day match, starting on Sunday, March 24, play starts at 10am
Both matches are at ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City. Admission is free.
The Land between Two Rivers: Writing in an Age of Refugees
Tom Sleigh, Graywolf Press
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Dubai World Cup draw
1. Gunnevera
2. Capezzano
3. North America
4. Audible
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Company profile
Name: Tharb
Started: December 2016
Founder: Eisa Alsubousi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: Luxury leather goods
Initial investment: Dh150,000 from personal savings
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
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