Tears for 'innocent' jailed Pakistani cricketers
"My son is innocent and he did the no ball at the asking of the captain," said Nasim Akhtar, the mother of Mohammad Amir, tears rolling down her cheeks at her home in the village of Changa Bangial outside the Pakistani capital.
Amir, 19, is the youngest of the trio and was jailed for six months. Pakistan former Test captain Salman Butt, 27, received 30 months and fastbowler Mohammad Asif, 28, received one year in jail.
Amir's mother, who lives in a simple two-roomed home, 73 kilometres (46 miles) east of Islamabad, said she feared she might die before he returns home.
"I spoke to him two days ago and he asked me to pray for his acquittal... I'm ill after this case, suffering from several diseases and I may not be here (when he gets out)," she added.
"My prayers are with my son and only Allah will do justice with us," she said, watching the television in her living room, surrounded by female relatives,
Amir's house is located on a narrow street. The village of Changa Bangial is surrounded by farmland, where workers were tilling the land with tractors.
"He should not have been sentenced after his confession. We were under the impression that he will be released after the imposition of a fine," said Amir's brother, 26-year-old Mohammad Ijaz.
In the eastern city of Lahore, where Butt was brought up in relative luxury compared to Amir, his sisters spoke to reporters to defend their brother and claimed he had been made a scapegoat for a wider conspiracy.
"The punishment is unfair, it is shocking. Our brother is innocent," said Khadija, veiled and in her 30s, outside the family home.
"We talked to him this morning he was very upset and asked us to pray for him... His crime is that he was at the wrong place at the wrong time," she added.
"The trio had been framed and made part of a wider controversy."
COMMENTS (24)
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I am not condoning what they did, all I am saying is where is the sentences for other corrupt people of the system in the UK??? No answer???
They are not innocent, they have done it and they deserve it.
Afsos, You are right to point out that other people may also be guilty, but two wrongs will never make it right. Our boys committed a crime, got caught, got sentenced and now must serve their time in jail. Blaming the Indians or the men from mars at this stage is denial and puts more egg on our own face.
@Mr Ali: Never accept a mistake. Always blame others.
@afsos
You probably don't hear about them because they typically get covered in the city or crime pages of Indian newspapers. Scores of bookies get arrested in various cities of India during major matches. Eve assuming that there is one single hidden hand driving all this, it will only be the perpetrators Lea ing evidence that will get caught.
Please also remember that in many countries, including the UK, betting is not illegal, including over cricket. But what is illegal is trying to influence outcomes through fraudulent means
Let's not embarrass ourselves further- not sure as previous comments what india/syndicates/the world & his wife have got to do with this guys ?? They broke the law in the UK, were caught & were brought to justice there; no conspiracy, no racism. End of story, justice done.
Let us not also forget that these greedy corrupt criminals were doing this when their nation was suffering with the tragic floods; even more shocking & disgraceful.
“My son is innocent and he did the no ball at the asking of the captain,” said Nasim Akhtar, the mother of Mohammad Amir, tears rolling down her cheeks
Mom was he this innocent ? Is he a baby. Will he jump in a well if his captain had asked him to. why was his country his Pakistan so cheap to him that he bowled a no ball.
The hypocrisy of their families is sickening. Accept it your sons and brothers were cheats and let them face the music.
@bigsaf: what about betting syndicates of India....have Indians ever launched attack on them ...crack down on them...no because they know it is multi trillion dollar industry good for bharat mahan and even if it is bad for cricket...so what...... all the fixing is due to india....nothing else........if Pakistanis are jailed then millions of Indian bookies should be jailed also.......players are only pawns....entrapped pawns.....but the betting mafiamen of India are the ones who should be banned and taken down by police and ICC....
Last week an Indian player broke four teeth of Pakistani hockey player by hockey , unprovoked and trying to kill him....but he got no jail.... in cricket...bowling no balls can get you in jail...even if it is no physical offense....because in cricket it was Pakistan which was involved....in hockey "baharat mahan" was invloved so it was hush hush everywhere.....
To all those rejoicing at the sentence, and saying this is justice, then where is the justice for others like the corrupt News of the World staff and owner, when are they going to jail for corruption? Any news on that? Stinks of hypocrisy. Free Amir!!!
@raza:
If they've done this before, it doesn't make it right. Considering many times Pakistanis were seen openly cheating, be it Afridi biting the ball or Akhtar nailing (he unashamedly defended it in his auto-biography), I'm surprised it took so long to make an example out of them.
When have Pakistani players ever been given jail terms before this? Never. Yet we know many big name players of the 80's, 90's and early 2000's indulged in this activity forever. Salim Malik continues to deny his role despite evidence. At least Hansie Cronje admitted his crime.
Cricketers who were caught shouldn't have been simply banned, or slapped on the wrist, fined. Cricket organizers and law enforcement, especially Pakistani ones, stupidly didn't take the matter seriously, be it out of delusion, their own greed or simply condoning or participating in corruption themselves.
Our corrupt society that excuses everyday financial crimes created this environment that someone as low as Amir or as high as Butt can't escape the corruption hierarchy.
Had Judge Malik Qayyum done his job properly, which he didn't and should be held accountable himself, Wasim Akram would have been in jail in the 90's, and would have set a strong tone of accountability where this was not condoned and no one was untouchable.
But, because Wasim Akram was considered a 'national asset', he was given a fine and left off the hook even with proof of match-fixing, according to Qayyum's own admission. So the practice of cricket corruption flourished in Pakistan cricket finally coming down to this international embarrassment, and deservedly so, because if you can't reign in your problems, another country will.
In USA,there is a saying,"Do the crime,do the time". If one takes part in a crime, why cry while getting punishment for it. Its the LAW that is hitting them back in equal proportions. This will free them of their wrong doings.
First of all it was spot fixing not match fixing.A lot of cricketers have done this before why is it always that Pakistanis are made an example of .Why were others only banned from the sport .For the judge to say that Amir is not culpable and then give him 6 months is laughable.
They simply don't get it.
No concept of accountability at all. Saying sorry and therefore no sentence?
Same old denial, lying, mechanisms. Wider conspiracy?
Confession and innocence doesn't go together. No body trapped Amir, it was his blunder. The other two are definitely bigger culprit
How will poor Allah do justice?? Did these guys think of allah before committing what they did?? They destroy name of country and its people for no fault of theirs. Allah can not pardon that crime.
The reaction is understandable right up until they say all of them were innocent. They should have kept it at Amir. His motive and how deep in it he was could actually be debated. The other ones... No.
Screw this wider conspiracy logic....
They have accepted their crime...it is extremly painful...but they have done it...and they deserve the punishment...they had nothing less in their lives...money...fame and all why they did this...