Salman Butt hoping to postpone ICC hearing
Suspended Pakistan batsman Salman Butt’s lawyers have requested the ICC to delay the hearing of the spot-fixing case, against the Pakistan players. The decision on the request will be taken on Wednesday through a teleconference which will be headed by Michael
Beloff QC, who will also chair the eventual case. The hearing, against Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, is due to be held from January 6-11 in Doha, Qatar.
Mohammad Amir’s lawyer, Shahid Karim said, “Butt's legal team want the hearing to be held after the UK's Crown Prosecution Service has dealt with the case first, so a teleconference has been arranged for tomorrow”
Butt has now hired the services of a London based barrister, Yasin Patel. The ex-Pakistan captain has already had assistance from high profile Pakistan lawyers which include Aftab Gul, Khalid Ranjha and Aitzaz Ahsan. The ICC has raised concern over Butt’s
constant change of legal firms.
The left-handed batsman, on the other hand, has continuously stated that the three man tribunal set to hear the case is biased against the charged Pakistani trio. He had demanded an independent tribunal, which could reach a decision without any influence
from the ICC.
The same concern was raised by Amir’s lawyer, Shahid Karim; but he also expressed his confidence in the tribunal. Karim said,
“We would have liked the tribunal to be completely independent of the ICC. Although the members of the three-man tribunal are already part of the anti-corruption commission which is a permanent body in the code of the ICC and are nominated by the ICC, and
the tribunal members have been picked out of those members, I still think that I have faith in their independence and impartiality.”
Karim also stated that he expects the left-arm pacer to come clean against all allegations. He insisted that Amir’s age and clean past record of his client will work in his favor.
A few days ago, ICC granted Pakistan time till 5th of January to announce their 30-men squad for the 2011 World Cup, following controversy surrounding certain players. This raised questions amongst cricketing circles, as the hearing of the spot-fixing
case was set to start on the following day.
Butt’s demand for a further delay in the hearing will certainly silence those critics and inflict more confusion into the case.
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