Pakistan's high court has suspended Imran Khan's recent conviction on corruption charges, but the former prime minister is likely to remain in jail due to ongoing investigations.
Mr Khan, 70, has been in jail since he was given a three-year sentence on August 5 on charges of unlawfully selling state gifts during his time in office from 2018 to 2022.
As a result of the conviction, he was also barred from standing for elections for five years. Pakistan is due to hold a general election later this year but the polls may be delayed due to the redrawing of constituencies based on the country's latest census.
The former prime minister has said he has faced many charges – about 200 in all – including treason and terrorism.
He was hit the series of charges after he was removed from office in a no-confidence vote in April last year. He has said that the cases are politically motivated.
Ongoing criminal charges
The cricket star-turned-politician has also been previously denied bail in at least nine other cases, including three in anti-terrorism courts and six in the district courts in Islamabad.
An official from Mr Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, party said on Tuesday that the Islamabad High Court had suspended the sentence imposed by the lower court.
In his appeal, Mr Khan said he was convicted without being given the right to prepare his defence.
A newly established specialised court designated for lawsuits involving the Official Secrets Act has instructed the authorities of Attock jail, where Mr Khan is being held, to maintain him in judicial confinement.
The court has ordered for him to be presented on August 30 in relation to the Cipher case, which involves a diplomatic record that purportedly disappeared from Mr Khan's possession.
PTI claims that the diplomatic communication proves the US was pressuring the Pakistani political opposition to rally against Mr Khan and expel him from government.
A legal letter, a duplicate of which has been seen by The National, has been sent to the superintendent of Attock jail by Islamabad High Court Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain.
It confirms that he will remain in custody and that “the accused Imran Khan Niazi, son of Ikramullah Khan Niazi R/o Zaman Park, Lahore, is hereby ordered for Judicial Remand in case FIR mentioned above, who is already detained in district jail, Attock”.
In the Pakistani and Indian justice systems, an FIR is a legal report on a criminal case.
Legal proceedings against PTI vice chairman and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in connection with the same case are also ongoing.
One of Mr Khan's lawyers told reporters outside Attock jail, which was surrounded by patrolling police officers, that the former prime minister was “on judicial remand” and would appear before a special court in Islamabad on Wednesday.
Rights monitors say authorities use vexing and repetitive legal proceedings as a tactic to quash dissent in Pakistan.
Pro-PTI lawyers chanted “Release Imran Khan” and “Khan, your devotees are countless” outside the court as initial news of his sentence suspension broke.
The party later said nine activists had been arrested outside the jail.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company profile
Name: Back to Games and Boardgame Space
Started: Back to Games (2015); Boardgame Space (Mark Azzam became co-founder in 2017)
Founder: Back to Games (Mr Azzam); Boardgame Space (Mr Azzam and Feras Al Bastaki)
Based: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Industry: Back to Games (retail); Boardgame Space (wholesale and distribution)
Funding: Back to Games: self-funded by Mr Azzam with Dh1.3 million; Mr Azzam invested Dh250,000 in Boardgame Space
Growth: Back to Games: from 300 products in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019; Boardgame Space: from 34 games in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019
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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.”
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
Types of fraud
Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
* Nada El Sawy
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Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
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Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
What are the influencer academy modules?
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- Professional ethics.
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Married Malala
Malala Yousafzai is enjoying married life, her father said.
The 24-year-old married Pakistan cricket executive Asser Malik last year in a small ceremony in the UK.
Ziauddin Yousafzai told The National his daughter was ‘very happy’ with her husband.
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
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Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
