Dawood's aide Motiwala to face extortion trial on Nov 12

Agencies
October 22, 2018

London, Oct 22: London's West Magistrate Court has observed that underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's key aide Jabir Motiwala will remain in custody on remand and will appear for a case management hearing on November 12. A three-day trial in his extradition case has been scheduled between February 25 and 27 next year.

The 51-year-old had been denied bail during previous hearings and did not make any further application for bail on Friday. Police did not produce him in court owing to security reasons, he appeared before the court via live video link from Wandsworth prison.

The hearing against the Pakistani national on Friday took place after Motiwala made probably his last effort at the London High Court for bail and increased the bail surety amount to 1.5 million pounds, but the judge refused the bail stating that there was "genuine" fear that he could easily obtain a travel document using his connections and influence to flee the country.

The judge said that it would not be safe to give him bail even with the huge amount of 1.5 million pounds on offer.

During a previous hearing on September 27 at the Westminster Magistrate's Court, District Judge Emma Arbuthnot had refused the bail after bail surety of 1 million pounds was offered. The judge had maintained that there was a flight risk - the same argument upheld by the High Court. The judge also gave weight to the argument of the prosecution that the Karachi businessman could get access to alternative travel papers easily.

"As there is no bail application, I am remanding you in custody until November 12," Judge Tan Ikram had said.

Jabir Motiwala is facing extradition to the United States on money-laundering and extortion charges. His defence lawyer, Toby Cadman of Guernica law firm, told the court that his client had made an application in court to have his name changed in the case documents to Jabir Siddiq. He also indicated that Motiwala's defence intends to depose a number of legal experts as witnesses in the case, with the key issues being "abuse of process and entrapment" by the authorities.

He was repeatedly denied bail at previous hearings, with his defence team even presenting a letter from the Pakistani High Commissioner among the many sureties that he would not jump bail and abscond.

At the last hearing, the Pakistan government had also vouched for Motiwala's "good character", which was termed as "pretty unusual and unequivocal support" by his counsel.

The US extradition request follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation dating back to 2005 and Motiwala was arrested by Scotland Yard from Hilton Metropole, Edgware Road, London hotel on August 17, having arrived in the UK on business on a 10-year visa.

Motiwala has been described in the UK court proceedings as a "senior member" and "top lieutenant" of D Company - an allegation he has vehemently denied.

The FBI alleged that Motiwala went to Atlantic City for two days in 2011 to meet two undercover FBI agents for an alleged narcotics and money-laundering deal, but the defence says that he got trapped into it and unlawful methods were used to entrap him.
The investigating agency further alleged that he was also involved in smuggling of Class-A drugs in quantity of four kilograms into the country and issued threats to extort money from the proceeds of drugs sales and separately used threats and intimidation to collect money and rents from various people for the criminal syndicate he allegedly worked for.

Motiwala has denied the allegations and his lawyer has told the court that his grandfather and father were pivotal in setting up Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) and belonged to a respectable business family with the history of genuine business credentials.

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News Network
June 19,2020

London, Jun 19: Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner who once took a bullet for campaigning for girls' education in Pakistan, was over the moon on Friday after completing her degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Britain's prestigious Oxford University.

Malala, 22, who attended Oxford's Lady Margaret Hall college, took to Twitter to share two pictures that show her celebrating the milestone with her family.

"Hard to express my joy and gratitude right now as I completed my Philosophy, Politics and Economics degree at Oxford," she said in the tweet, accompanied by two pictures - one showing her sitting with her family in front of a cake that says: 'Happy Graduation Malala', and the other in which she is covered with cake smiling for the camera.

In the tweet, the famed human rights activist also revealed her plans for the immediate future - Netflix, reading and sleeping.

"I don't know what's ahead. For now, it will be Netflix, reading and sleep," she wrote.

Malala was shot in the head by the Taliban militants in December 2012 for campaigning for female education in the Swat Valley in northeastern Pakistan.

Severely wounded, she was airlifted from one military hospital in Pakistan to another and later flown to the UK for treatment.

After the attack, the Taliban released a statement saying that they would target Malala again if she survived.

At the age of 17, Malala became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her education advocacy in 2014 when she shared the coveted honour with India's social activist Kailash Satyarthi.

Unable to return to Pakistan after her recovery, she moved to Britain, setting up the Malala Fund and supporting local education advocacy groups with a focus on Pakistan, Nigeria, Jordan, Syria and Kenya.

The Taliban, who are against girls' education, have destroyed many schools in Pakistan.

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News Network
May 19,2020

May 18: Risk managers expect a prolonged global recession as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a report by the World Economic Forum showed on Tuesday.

Two-thirds of the 347 respondents to the survey - carried out in response to the outbreak - put a lengthy contraction in the global economy top of their list of concerns for the next 18 months.

Half of risk managers expected bankruptcies and industry consolidation, the failure of industries to recover and high levels of unemployment, particularly among the young.

“The crisis has devastated lives and livelihoods. It has triggered an economic crisis with far-reaching implications and revealed the inadequacies of the past," said Saadia Zahidi, managing director of the World Economic Forum.

Environmental goals risk being discarded as a result of the pandemic, the report said, but governments should try to carve out a "green recovery".

"We now have a unique opportunity to use this crisis to do things differently and build back better economies that are more sustainable, resilient and inclusive," Zahidi said.

The report was compiled by the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Advisory Board together with Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc and Zurich Insurance Group.

Risk managers were surveyed between April 1 and 13.

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News Network
July 1,2020

Jul 1: Hong Kong police moved swiftly on Wednesday against protesters gearing up for the first rally since the introduction of sweeping security legislation, making their first arrest under it and warning of punishment for pro-independence material.

Beijing on Tuesday unveiled the details of the much-anticipated law after weeks of uncertainty, pushing China's freest city and one of the world's most glittering financial hubs onto a more authoritarian path.

As hundreds of protesters gathered downtown for an annual rally marking the 23rd anniversary of the former British colony's handover to China, riot police used pepper spray to arrest at least two people, while one metro station closed.

Police, who earlier banned the rally, cited the law for the first time in confronting protesters and they also made their first arrest under it - a man holding a flag advocating independence.

"You are displaying flags or banners/chanting slogans/or conducting yourselves with an intent such as secession or subversion, which may constitute offences under the ... national security law," police said in a message displayed on a purple banner.

The law will punish crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison, heralding a more authoritarian era for the Asian financial hub.

China's parliament adopted it in response to months of pro-democracy protests last year triggered by fears that Beijing was stifling the city's freedoms, guaranteed by a "one country, two systems" formula agreed when it returned to Chinese rule.

Authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong have repeatedly said the legislation is aimed at a few "troublemakers" and will not affect rights and freedoms, nor investor interests.

But critics fear it will crush the freedoms that are seen as key to Hong Kong's success as a financial centre.

"With the release of the full detail of the law, it should be clear to those in any doubt that this is not the Hong Kong they grew up in," said Hasnain Malik, head of equity research, Tellimer in Dubai.

"The difference is that U.S. and China relations are far worse and this could be used as a pretext to impede the role of Hong Kong as a finance hub."

In Beijing, Zhang Xiaoming, executive deputy director of Beijing's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, told reporters suspects arrested by Beijing's new security office in Hong Kong could be tried on the mainland.

He said the mainland's national security office abided by Chinese law and that Hong Kong's legal system could not be expected to implement the laws of the mainland. Article 55 of the law states that Beijing's national security office in Hong Kong could exercise jurisdiction over "complex" or "serious" cases.

Mainland security agencies will also be based in Hong Kong officially for the first time, with powers that go beyond city laws.

"The law is a birthday gift to (Hong Kong) and will show its precious value in the future," Zhang said, adding the law would not be applied retroactively.

On July 1 last year, hundreds of protesters stormed and vandalised the city's legislature to protest against a now-scrapped bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China.

Those protests evolved into calls for greater democracy, paralysing parts of the city and paving the way for Beijing's imposition of the law this week.

'INEVITABLE'

Speaking at a flag-raising ceremony to mark the handover anniversary, the city's Beijing-backed leader, Carrie Lam, said the law was the most important development since the city's return to Chinese rule.

"It is also an inevitable and prompt decision to restore stability," Lam said at the same harbour-front venue where 23 years ago the last colonial governor, Chris Patten, a staunch critic of the security law, tearfully handed back Hong Kong to Chinese rule.

Some pro-Beijing officials and political commentators say the law is aimed at sealing Hong Kong's "second return" to the motherland after the first failed to bring residents to heel.

Luo Huining, the head of Beijing's top representative office in Hong Kong, said at the ceremony the law was a "common aspiration" of Hong Kong citizens.

Critics denounced the lack of transparency surrounding the details of the legislation until it was unveiled. It came into force at 11 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Tuesday.

Some pro-democracy activists gave up membership of their groups just before the law came into force, though calling for the campaign for democracy to go on offshore.

"I saw this morning there are celebrations for Hong Kong's handover, but to me it is a funeral, a funeral for 'one country two systems'," said democracy lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki.

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