ABU DHABI // An Emirati woman has been freed after spending more than seven years on death row after a high court adopted an ancient tribal justice mechanism.
ARM was convicted by Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance of shooting her brother-in-law in the head with a handgun at his home in Al Gharbia in January 2004.
She initially admitted killing him, saying she had done it after he twice raped her, but she retracted her confessions before the court and insisted they were given under duress.
The judges, however, found her confessions to the police and prosecutors convincing and sufficient to sentence her to death.
She appealed, but the Court of Appeal upheld the sentence. She appealed again to the Court of Cassation, which found that her confessions were inconsistent and did not match the forensic tests, and were therefore inadmissible.
The court sent the case back for a retrial and the appeals court sentenced her to life.
The case landed again at the Court of Cassation, where ARM's defence lawyer, Nashwa al Qubaisi, argued that, with the confessions struck out, there was no evidence against her.
However, the family of the victim insisted she was the killer, citing her confessions to police and prosecutors.
In such murder cases, judges can adopt a rarely applied ancient tribal justice mechanism known as Al Qasamah, or "wager of law", which links innocence or guilt to an oath.
The system was used by Arabs in pre-Islamic times but endorsed by the Prophet Mohammed in the case of murder.
According to the system, a person or people would be asked to swear to the truth of something they knew, but did not see.
Fifty family members of either side must take the oath.
The oath is annulled if members of the other family swear to the contrary.
In the absence of 50 family members who meet the requirements - adults and mentally fit - judges may ask available family members to swear several times.
Both families already refused to take the oath, unsure of her guilt or innocence. ARM swore she did not kill the man and the Court of Cassation acquitted her.
Mrs al Qubaisi argued in that court that the lower courts had erred in ignoring ARM's retraction of her confessions.
"Whereas this court had reversed the previous decision, and settled in its belief and conscience that she was coerced to confess ... she must be acquitted," she said.
She said her client had endured "psychological, neurological and physical pressure" and had wanted to "save her husband, siblings and relatives from torture".
"A person should not be convicted based on their confession if the confession is contrary to the facts and reality.
"It does not harm justice if a criminal is spared a punishment [due to insufficient evidence], it is better than [if] an innocent person is put behind the bars."
The man must have been killed by another person who had a grudge against him, she said, citing the rage of ARM's husband - the victim's brother - after he found out she had been raped. Maids testified that the man had also raped ARM's sister and threatened to rape her niece as well.
That, she argued, gave many people the motive to kill him, and given the lack of evidence against ARM there was no reason she could be convicted.
The decision is final.
hhassan@thenational.ae
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESmartCrowd%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESiddiq%20Farid%20and%20Musfique%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20%2F%20PropTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24650%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2035%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVarious%20institutional%20investors%20and%20notable%20angel%20investors%20(500%20MENA%2C%20Shurooq%2C%20Mada%2C%20Seedstar%2C%20Tricap)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Monster
Directed by: Anthony Mandler
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington
3/5
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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.”
Concrete and Gold
Foo Fighters
RCA records