ABU DHABI // The State Security Court sat yesterday to hear the case of five men accused of insulting the ruling families and threatening national security.
The five men did not appear in court because, their lawyers said, they had been denied basic requests such as access to their own court documents.
Ahmed Mansour Ali Abdullah Al Abd Al Shehi, Nasser Ahmed Khalfan bin Gaith, Fahad Salim Mohammed Salim Dalk, Hassan Ali Al Khamis and Ahmed Abdul Khaleq - four of them Emirati, the other without nationality documents - are accused of instigation to break laws, committing acts that pose a threat to state security, undermining public order, opposing the government system and insulting the President, the Vice President and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. They deny the charges.
The prosecution opened the hearing yesterday with a video slideshow, set to music, about Sheikh Zayed, the country's founder.
Prosecutors said the five men had enjoyed the UAE's generosity, and unjustly sought to incite a revolution similar to that in Egypt, and encouraged a boycott of the FNC elections.
The court was told all evidence showed Mr Mansour was the owner and main administrator of the website uaehewar.net, where the insulting comments were posted, and he could therefore have deleted them.
Prosecutors also said their evidence showed the other men had posted the comments, and had confessed to doing so.
Mohamed Al Ghanim, head of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), was questioned about the website by both prosecution and defence.
He said the domain name had been registered with a US company, Hostrocket, and the first the TRA heard of any alleged illegality on the site was when prosecutors contacted the agency about the five men. He said the TRA had been unable to determine who owned the domain.
Mr Al Ghanim also said Mr Mansour had helped users to get around TRA blocking. "Ahmed Mansour published ways to allow visitors in the UAE to see the uaehewar website, at a time when access to the site was blocked," he said.
Judge Ahmad Abdulhameed, head of the judicial panel, halted the defence lawyers' cross examination of Mr Al Ghanim and refused them permission to call two witnesses next week - one from the National Media Council, the other the editor of a digital magazine.
The defence lawyers continued to complain about how they and their clients were being treated. They said the five men were kept in solitary confinement when they made complaints.
"Everyone is equal in front of the law, but here they were not equal in the way they were treated in prison or by public opinion or in the trial," Abdul Hameed Al Kumaiti, a defence lawyer, told the judge.
"They filed requests and the reason for them not attending is that they were not responded to." Only one request, to have the case heard in public, has been granted.
Mr Al Kumaiti said his clients were being overtly threatened but nothing was being done. "They have been facing threats night and day and we know who threatened them … Ahmed Mansour received a murder threat in Dubai. Dubai's prosecution decided not to pursue the complaint because it is connected with a case in Abu Dhabi courts."
The trial was open for the first time yesterday, and was attended by media, representatives from several human-rights organisations, and others.
The case was adjourned until Sunday when lawyers representing the accused will begin presenting the defence case. Bail was refused and the five men remain in custody.
hdajani@thenational.ae
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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.”
The specs: 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio
Price, base: Dh198,300
Engine: 2.0L in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 280hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7L / 100km
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.0-litre%20twin-turbo%20V6%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E10-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E400bhp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E563Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDh320%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
