The art of obfuscation by Sky is Neela
Having a voice, an audience, a platform is a privilege not afforded to many. Those who are afforded this luxury wield power, a control over the flow and dissemination of information & narratives. Those that abuse this power to spread misinformation & propagate false narratives represent a particularly strenuous curse. This is because (i) the large scale & brisk consumption of media today makes the damage they do often irreparable and quite substantial (ii) there’s no way to take that power away from them.
So I am going to try to educate whoever reads this on how writers obfuscate and distort the issues in order to propagate false narratives. Particular attention is to be paid to illegitimate, false arguments, or fallacies, that are used to achieve this end. Since Babar Sattar has welcomed criticism of his piece “A perfect heist” -a commentary on the SC probe faced by Sharif family- we can use it as sort of a case study.
Having followed Sattar’s work for a while, I have noticed a tendency to invoke the middle ground fallacy almost as if it were a doctrine. This is not a surprise, writers who put extra emphasis on appearing detached & clear-headed often fall prey to, or make use of, the middle ground fallacy. It has also been a preferred method of obfuscation for media whenever the ruling family runs into legal trouble. The middle ground fallacy, or the argument to moderation, is the tendency to believe/contend that the extreme arguments in any debate are always wrong, that “the truth lies somewhere in the middle”. Of course that is not the case. The argument supported by the facts, no matter how extreme, is where the truth lies.
We see this in the article in question as the agenda is set in the opening para:
“Is the explanation presented by the Sharifs regarding ownership of the London flats believable or plausible? The answer depends on what you already believe.”
The implication is that the evidence for the extreme positions is insufficient, the one extreme being that the Sharifs’ explanation is not true, the other that it is. By the end of the article, the author will grant the Sharif argument plausibility, but hold off deeming it true. That is the key to this method of obfuscation; it presents a false compromise, a status quo. The status quo, obviously, supports the ones in power.
The facts though do not support the status quo, they support the extreme position; the explanation of the ruling family regarding ownership of London flats is not believable — more on that later. So to create enough confusion regarding this, Mr Sattar lends credence to claims that have none, sometimes passing them off as facts, employs more logical fallacies and in the process presents a distorted picture of the case.
Deconstructing all of it is impermissible due to space constraints, but looking at key passages should be informative still. Most telling is the passage justifying the main question; ownership of the flats, or the Al Thani letter story:
“In an interview oft played by the media since the Panama leaks, Hassan Nawaz said that the flats were rented. We now see the mention of ‘ground rent and service charges’ paid by the Sharifs in the Al Thani affidavit and the response filed by Sharif siblings. As no money was paid to the Al Thani family, there is no money trail to be established and no laundered money to be justified. The only question that remains is that of truthful declarations and valid documents.”
This is a classic example of the cherry picking fallacy, or the suppressed evidence fallacy, employed at leisure by Mr Sattar. What this means is that there is a body of evidence available, but the author only cites the evidence that supports the argument he wants to forward, and omits all of the evidence that counters it. The Sharif family has made a number of statements about the properties in question. One of Kulsoom Nawaz states that the flats were bought, not rented, before 2000. One by Maryam Nawaz states that the flats have never been owned by the family at any time. The one by Hussain says they were bought around 2006 and money was transferred officially to Britain from Saudi Arabia, not to Qatar or the Al Thani family. Majority, if not every single facet, of the Al Thani story is contradicted by every statement of every member of the Sharif family. The Supreme Court noted that even the Prime Minister’s statements are contradicted by the letter presented before them.
The author does not notice the contradictions because he is employing the suppressed evidence technique; picking the one statement that, he contends, supports the Al Thani story. Just that it does not. Here he uses the “contextomy” fallacy. This is to say that the reference quoted does not actually support the argument made, just the context is removed to make it sound like it does. The “Ground rent” mentioned in the Al Thani letter refers to an annual token rent paid on leased land in the UK, such as the one the properties in question are built upon. In the interview Mr Sattar has referenced, Hassan Nawaz states that quarterly “rent” not ground rent, is paid for the flats to the owners and the money comes from Pakistan. If that interview were to be believed there must be quarterly payments to Al Thani family from Pakistan; the interview contradicts the Al Thani statement and actually establishes that there is a money trail, from Pakistan no less.
Still more distortion is on the way. Let’s look at a troubling passage which Mr Sattar uses to draw his conclusion:
“Each piece of the Sharif story, seen in isolation, is plausible. Could Mian Sharif have invested AED12 million in the Al Thani real-estate business? People make minority co-investments on the basis of trust without written formalities all the time. Do business families settle investments and make payouts on the basis of profits and mutual understanding? Sure they do. Can grandparents nominate a favoured grandchild to inherit a particular asset or property? Yes. Are such transactions illegal or invalid if not reduced to writing? No.
Plausible or not, does the story sound truthful? That depends on what side you are on.”
Mr Sattar is answering questions no one has ever asked. Nature of family investments, profit sharing, inheritance? These have nothing to do with the case at hand, which revolves around, in Sattar’s own words, “ownership of the flats, declaration of ownership, source of funds for the acquisition and money trail”. It’s as if he’s using the straw man fallacy on himself.
On the questions identified as key ones by the author, the answers are pretty clear. The Sharifs have not provided a money trail, they have not provided evidence to refute the documents leaked from Mossack Fonseca and there is evidence, in the form of a UK court ruling, crediting them with the ownership of Park Lane properties before 2006. The UK court ruling refers to the Al Tawfik case & is the most critical piece of evidence suppressed by Mr Sattar.
The most bizarre type of reasoning in the article is saved for the defence of Maryam Nawaz. Have a read:
“Maryam says she is the trustee and not the owner of the offshore companies that own the flats. The allegation against her rests on letters in which the law firm representing the offshore companies identify her as beneficial owner to a foreign investigation agency. But to refute the allegation, the Sharifs have produced before the SC a trust deed executed by Maryam and Hussain (witnessed and verified by a London attorney in February 2006), where Maryam agrees to hold 49 shares of Coomber Group Inc on trust for Hussain.
Each piece of the Sharif story, seen in isolation, is plausible.”
Maryam is listed as sole beneficial owner of the firms Nielsen & Nescoll who in turn hold the Park Lane properties. The omission here is that letters identifying Maryam as owner of Nescoll & Nielsen mention that Mossack Fonseca were unaware of any trust associated with them. The tremendous error in logic here though is this: COOMBER GROUP INC is not NESCOLL or NIELSEN. You cannot refute allegations regarding the latter two with a document regarding the former.
I do not know what this kind of reasoning is called because I have never seen anyone over the age of 5 employ it. It is like somebody tells you that the milk has turned sour, so you take a bite of the apple and say “it seems fine to me”. It is not fine. This is not how it works. This is not how anything works. The apple does not represent the milk, because it is the apple; the milk is the milk. The apple can only represent the apple. I don’t know how this can be confused.
The apple & the milk are different, they are not the same.
Okay then. On to the conclusion where Mr Sattar states that the “buyer”, i.e. the Sharifs and the “seller”, i.e. the Al Thani family, presently have the same story. Right? Wrong. Wrong. Not right. The Al Thani family is not the seller. There is zero evidence to establish that they were ever owners of the Park Lane flats. If they provide the court with purchase deeds, that would help.
That has not happened though. Nothing the Sharifs claim is backed by proof, it is contradicted by their statements and it is refuted by documentation. Yet the reader will leave Babar Sattar’s column with a very different impression. This is the art of the wordsmith. To just subtly pass on claim as fact, shroud what is fact & put into question what is established, all in a seemingly articulate, coherent manner. This is the art of obfuscation.
To recap: Babar Sattar’s assertions are just plain false not because of what you already believe, or what side you are on, but because of the facts relevant to them.
On money trail; there is none.
On ownership; the Sharif position is not supported by any documentary evidence and negated by UK court judgment.
On date of purchase; the Sharif position is not supported by any documentary evidence and negated by UK court judgement.
On Maryam’s status as trustee, in turn need for declaration; the Sharif position is not supported by any documentary evidence and negated by documents leaked in the Panama papers.
Oh, and the Sharif position on all questions is proved false by previous statements from every member of the family.
These are the facts. There is no middle ground here.
P.S:
The false arguments pointed out here can be intentional or, for the most part, an unintentional product of inherent bias. I have taken the view that they are a result of intentional design because of (i) my inherent bias/suspicion against/of the media (ii) the sheer number of them.
If Mr Sattar were to argue that he is so incompetent as to not be able to do basic research for an article, do a google search, or tell that this grouping of alphabets “COOMBER” is different from this one “NESCOLL” I will concede that I have taken an incorrect view and respectfully apologize.
This article originally appeared in Sky is Neela Blog (Medium.com)
The perfect heist? by Babar Sattar
Are they guilty or victims of propaganda? Does the evidence produced establish that the Sharifs have stolen from Pakistan or broken the law? Is the explanation presented by the Sharifs regarding ownership of the London flats believable or plausible? The answer depends on what you already believe. In the polarised environment we hang suspended in, there exists little space and appetite for objective assessment of facts. Our perceptions inform our reasoning.
“It is the spirit of law and not its form that keeps justice alive”, Earl Warren had said, probably explaining the gap between law and justice. Laws are drafted and justice systems designed with the aspiration to produce justice. But Oliver Wendell Homes Jr had acknowledged the distance between the real and the ideal and the limitation courts face when he famously declared that “this is a court of law, young man, not a court of justice.”
The Panama case is sub judice. While one can’t pass judgement we can look at and tease out competing arguments. The charge against Nawaz Sharif is three-fold: one, non-declaration of flats as an asset before the Election Commission, which ought to lead to disqualification as MNA and PM; two, non-declaration of income pointing to tax evasion, or worse, dirty money; and three, illegally sending money abroad for purchase of flats, amounting to money laundering.
What are the Sharifs and the PML-N crying about? They say NS doesn’t own any flats. His children do. They say he wasn’t named in the Panama leaks. He has only been embroiled as a parent of an owner of offshore companies. They say the offshore companies weren’t purchased in 1993 or 1995-96 as alleged but in 2006. They say no money was transferred for purchase of flats from Pakistan. And no declaration was required after the purchase as the owner/beneficiary is a UK resident.
But the PTI and other critics ask thorny questions. In what capacity were the Sharifs living in the flats since 1993? If they bought the property in 2006, whom did they buy it from and whom did they pay rent to previously? Where did the money for the purchase come from in 2006 and was declared it in tax returns? Was it sent out of Pakistan legally? Why have Sharif confidants like Chaudhry Nisar been saying that the Sharifs have had the flats for 18-20 years?
So key questions revolve around ownership of the flats, declaration of ownership, source of funds for the acquisition and money trail. The Sharif children have now presented their defence before the SC. They say their grandfather Mian Sharif set up the Gulf Steel Mill in the UAE in the 70s with the help of a loan procured from the UAE, after his business in Pakistan was nationalised. He divested his interest in this mill overtime, paid off the loans and invested AED12 million in the real-estate business of the Al Thani family of Qatar.
In 2000, after Nawaz Sharif was exiled, Mian Sharif decided that his grandson Hussain Nawaz would inherit the Al Thani investment and returns. The Al Thani family owned the London flats and had allowed the Sharifs to use them subject to the Sharifs paying ground rent and service charges for the property. In 2006, the Al Thani family and Hussain Nawaz settled their mutual accounts, and as part of the settlement bearer certificates of offshore companies that own the London flats were handed to Hussain.
The Sharif story is backed by an affidavit provided by Prince Hammad bin Jassim Al Thani (a rich businessman and former prime minister of Qatar), documents related to the Gulf Steel Mills and share certificates of the offshore companies. If it holds up, the story establishes that: (i) the Al Thani family was and the Sharifs weren’t owners of London flats till 2006; (ii) Hussain Nawaz became the owner in 2006 as nominated next-of-kin of Mian Sharif; and (iii) settlement of the investment account of Mian Sharif was the consideration and no money changed hands.
In an interview oft played by the media since the Panama leaks, Hassan Nawaz said that the flats were rented. We now see the mention of ‘ground rent and service charges’ paid by the Sharifs in the Al Thani affidavit and the response filed by Sharif siblings. As no money was paid to the Al Thani family, there is no money trail to be established and no laundered money to be justified. The only question that remains is that of truthful declarations and valid documents.
According to the Sharif narrative, Mian Sharif took no money out of Pakistan and so breached no monetary laws. He made money abroad and kept it there. He probably didn’t declare his AED12 million investment in the Al Thani real-estate business in his wealth returns from 1980 till he lived. But that’s water under the bridge. Hussain didn’t inherit anything till 2006 and so wasn’t obliged to make any disclosures. And since 2006, he wasn’t obliged to make any declarations – being a non-resident Pakistani.
This leaves us with Maryam, who is named as beneficial owner of the offshore companies that own the flats. This is important. As a resident Pakistani she is obliged to disclose her global assets in her returns. She was also supposedly listed by NS as a dependent in 2011, which then required him to disclose her assets in his return, which if not done could make his declarations false and make him liable to be disqualified; and thus the obsessive focus on her.
Maryam says she is the trustee and not the owner of the offshore companies that own the flats. The allegation against her rests on letters in which the law firm representing the offshore companies identify her as beneficial owner to a foreign investigation agency. But to refute the allegation, the Sharifs have produced before the SC a trust deed executed by Maryam and Hussain (witnessed and verified by a London attorney in February 2006), where Maryam agrees to hold 49 shares of Coomber Group Inc on trust for Hussain.
Each piece of the Sharif story, seen in isolation, is plausible. Could Mian Sharif have invested AED12 million in the Al Thani real-estate business? People make minority co-investments on the basis of trust without written formalities all the time. Do business families settle investments and make payouts on the basis of profits and mutual understanding? Sure they do. Can grandparents nominate a favoured grandchild to inherit a particular asset or property? Yes. Are such transactions illegal or invalid if not reduced to writing? No.
Plausible or not, does the story sound truthful? That depends on what side you are on. Let’s assume the Sharifs are lying. Could they have manufactured the proofs post-Panama that they have now presented before the SC? If the Sharifs bought the London flats from the Al Thani family even back in 1993 and the Qatari prince agreed to bail them out today by providing them with a false affidavit, all they need is for the prince to stick to his guns.
All other documents could easily be prepared. Offshore companies function under a shroud of secrecy and aren’t subject to onerous filing requirements. Their owners can easily doctor internal company records, including share certificates, as they wish. The trust deed is also an internal family document. It could have been prepared and executed in 2016 so long as the attorney verifying it was willing to backdate it. But this is conjecture. And it is rooted in the assumption that the Sharifs are lying.
Presently the seller and buyer of the flats have the same story. And the legal owner/trustee and beneficial owner of the companies/flats have the same story. To convict the Sharifs their detractors will need more than moral outrage. They will need proof that compensation was paid for the flats back in the 90s, proof that funds were laundered out of Pakistan in the 90s and proof that the trust deed and share certificates submitted to the court are forged. And proof is what the SC, as a court of law, has been asking for.
This article originally appeared in THE NEWS
The views expressed in these articles are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy.