Salman Butt leaves for London to appear before British court – Cricket news
Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt will leave for London on Tuesday to make an appearance at the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court where he, along with his two compatriots, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif face criminal charges for
defrauding English bookmakers.
The trio was charged with corruption allegations following their involvement in spot-fixing during the fourth and final Test against England at Lord’s in August 2010.
Crown Prosecution Service of Britain, an organisation responsible for prosecuting criminal cases investigated by British police, charged the players and their agent http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mazhar-c75448 Majeed for conspiring to obtain and accept illegal payments as well
as conspiring to deceive the bookmakers.
The players and the illegal bookmaker will make their first appearance before the court on Thursday, 17 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391, 2011.
While talking to the media reporters on Monday, the discarded http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 opener said that there would be no hearing during their first appearance and they have been summoned to register themselves with the court.
“We have to register ourselves in the court. According to my information there will be no hearing as such initially,” said Butt.
Mohammad Asif is already in England while Mohammad Amir is also set to head to London in the next couple of days.
Salman Butt, who is working with a Pakistan TV channel as a cricket expert during the ongoing ICC World Cup 2011, has never featured in the high-profile quadrennial event and said that he was missing not playing in the tournament especially
when the side is struggling with the opening pair.
He said, “I am missing the World Cup because I was at a stage of my career where I had matured and would have played better in this World Cup.”
The trio was found guilty of charges and was handed lengthy bans by an independent Anti-Corruption Tribunal of the International Cricket Council in February 2011. Butt was banned for 10 years, Asif for 7 and the teenage pacer Mohammad Amir
for 5 years. Butt and Asif’s bans include five years as suspended contingent with no further breach of code.
All the three players have been denying the allegations from the start of the spot-fixing saga and have already filed appeals with the the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the ICC bans.
Under the British law, the minimum punishment for accepting illegal payments is imprisonment for seven years. Besides detention, the defamed cricketers can also face heavy financial penalties if proven guilty.
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