CAIRO// Two journalists were each fined 80,000 Egyptian pounds (Dh53,700) yesterday after a court found them guilty of defamation after an unflattering photo of one of the country's most powerful religious leaders was published along with a scathing article.
Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, the grand imam of Al Azhar, Islam's highest Sunni institute, sued Adel Hamouda, the editor of the Al Fajr independent newspaper, and Mohammed el Baz, a writer, over the publication of a doctored image showing him wearing a papal robe with a cross hanging at his chest.
The pair also published a critical article demanding Sheikh Tantawi refuse an invitation to visit the Vatican after Pope Benedict made comments that were deemed insulting to Islam.
After a trial that lasted for more than nine hours, a criminal court found the pair guilty of insulting Sheikh Tantawi, but found them not guilty of insulting Al Azhar itself.
"It's a very high fine, the highest I've ever heard of. I guess I'm a pioneer in everything," Hamouda said, adding "any fine is better than prison, it was such a tough case."
"We are getting the fine now, as we won't be able to leave the court without paying the 160,000 fine at the court."
"Long live justice" shouted Hamouda's supporters and journalists at his paper who had gathered in the courtroom since early morning.
Judge Mahmoud Samy, head of Giza Criminal court, also ordered Hamouda, 60, and Baz, head of investigative department at the paper, to pay 5,000 pounds to Sheikh Tantawi.
Hamouda lashed out at his accuser in court yesterday. "If [Sheikh Tantawi] is dragging journalists to the court, insisting on jailing them, I wonder what Osama bin Laden would like to do to us.
"We didn't seek reconciliation out of apology or of fear of the judiciary, but out of respect for Al Azhar," said Hamouda, surrounded by his lawyers in the courtroom.
Sheikh Tantawi, 79, was not at the court yesterday and he had not attended previous trial sessions.
Despite condemnation from journalists and appeals by others, including Makram Mohammed Ahmed, the head of the press syndicate, to drop the case, Sheikh Tantawi refused.
Newspapers in the country came out in support of Hamouda. "Egypt's journalism in court" read the headline of the opposition daily Al Destour yesterday.
The verdict comes as several other editors appeared in court yesterday and over the past year, sparking a national controversy over press freedom in Egypt.
In Giza province, the Agouza Appeals Court is considering appeals brought by four editors-in-chief against one-year jail sentences imposed after being charged over publishing false news that harmed ruling party figures.
The journalists are Hamouda, Ibrahim Eissa, editor of Al Destour, Abdel Halim Qandeel, editor of Sawt el Omma, and Wael el-Abrashi, former Sawt el-Omma editor. The ruling was scheduled for Dec 6.
Another case, the trial of Mr Qandeel and the chairman of the board of directors at his paper, Essam Fahmi, started yesterday after a lawsuit was filed by Ahmed Ezz, a lawmaker from the ruling party. It was adjourned to Nov 6.
Eissa was sentenced to two months in prison last month after an appeals court upheld a guilty verdict against him for publishing stories questioning the president's health, which at the time triggered a controversy over press freedom.
Eissa, who was originally sentenced to six months by a lower court in March, was charged with spreading "false information ... damaging the public interest and national stability", and had faced up to three years in prison for the stories, which were published in August last year.
In an unexpected move, Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, pardoned Eissa last week, but the laws that allow jailing journalists remain, four years after Mr Mubarak said they would be repealed. "Saturday 11th of October will mark a decisive day for freedom of the press in Egypt, three Egyptian courts will be held to try six independent newspapers editor-in-chief, which clearly indicate, regardless of the verdicts that will be issued, the risks that face freedom of the press in Egypt, specially the independent press," said a statement from The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI).
"The most important case is the one of [Sheikh Tantawi] against Adel Hamouda as it comes on the first anniversary of [Sheikh Tantawi] demanding that journalists accused of publishing false news and spreading rumours to be lashed 80 lashes, and his turning down of reconciliation offer and refusing the newspaper's offer to publish an apology on its front page," added the statement from ANHRI.
"This is freedom of the press that [Sheikh Tantawi] is standing against."
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Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
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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.”
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