DUBAI // The Dubai Court of Appeal this morning upheld a Dh5,000 fine against a 40-year-old tourist who insulted Islam during a conversation about the Taliban and called the Prophet Mohammed a terrorist.
AG, a Briton, appeared in the Dubai Court of Misdemeanours last May wearing shorts. He was sent away to change into more suitable clothing before he returned to the court to deny charges of insulting Islam and a Pakistani shop employee.
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"I told him he was crazy, but I didn't say any of the other things he claims," AG, who is staying at a hotel in Abu Hail area, said in court. "I spoke with him about the problems between the Pakistani government and Taliban, and when I understood from his responses that he was a supporter of the Taliban, I told him he was crazy because they were terrorists and they kill people and carry out bombings.
"I didn't say anything bad about Muslims and the Prophet."
AG was specifically charged with uttering a public insult, which is punishable by Articles No 9 and 373 of penal code No 3 for 1987.
According to records, AG visited the E-Max shop in Mall of the Emirates on the night of March 3. He met HH, 21, the salesman, greeted him and asked him where he was from.
When HH told him he was from Pakistan, AG responded that Muslims in Pakistan were not normal because they are killing each other and outsiders, records say. HH also testified to investigators that he told AG he was a Muslim and that AG's greeting to him – "namaste" – was Hindi.
"I asked him how I could help him, to end the conversation," HH said, adding that AG continued talking anyway and told him Pakistan would soon meet a bad end.
HH testified that he replied to AG that Muslims were peaceful brothers and helped each other. But AG retorted that he was crazy and that the Prophet Mohammed was not a peaceful man but a terrorist, records show.
"I walked towards him to hit him, but a customer who was present in the shop held me back," HH told investigators.
HH informed mall guards but AG had already left, records show. An Egyptian customer in the shop witnessed the incident, as did HH's Sri Lankan colleague.
On March 11, HH said he saw AG in the mall again and called security as well as police. AG was taken into custody. He denied to police that he had insulted the Prophet Mohammed.
Earlier in May, a new principal at Our Own English High School in Dubai was dismissed for allegedly making an inappropriate comment about the Prophet.
Ainsley Edgar, who had been at the school for three years, was said to have made the offensive remark as he interviewed a candidate for an Islamic Studies teaching position.
Although the incident was resolved as a "misunderstanding" and no charges were filed, he was removed because of the sensitivity of the issue, officials said at the time.
The court of Misdemeanours fined him on June 9.
salamir@thenational.ae
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Group D: Oman, Austria, Rwanda
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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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
