Spot-fixing trial: Salman appeals against sentence

Jailed cricketer’s lawyer confirms development.


Agencies November 09, 2011

LONDON: Disgraced cricketer Salman Butt has lodged an appeal against his 30-month sentence for a fixing scam which rocked international cricket.

Yasin Patel, Butt’s lawyer, confirmed the lodging of the appeal.

“I can confirm that Butt has lodged an appeal against the sentence,” he said. “We lodged it this week. Now we wait for the Court of Appeal.”

It is important to note that the appeal is against the sentence and not the verdict.

Butt, 27, was jailed at Southwark Crown Court in London on November 3 after being found guilty along with fast-bowler Mohammad Asif of fixing parts of an August 2010 Test match against England at Lord’s.

Teenage bowler Mohammad Amir and cricket agent Mazhar Majeed had previously pleaded guilty over the scam, and all four men were jailed, with Butt receiving the stiffest jail sentence of the three cricketers.

Asif was sent to prison for one year while the 19-year-old Amir will also serve a six-month sentence for agreeing to bowl no-balls at prearranged times. Majeed got a sentence of two years and eight months.

They will serve half the time in custody and then be released on license, with conditions which, if broken, would see them back in detention for the remainder of their term.

However, Asif’s lawyers had said they were considering an appeal against his conviction, which would mean he would walk free from prison should such an appeal be successful.

The spot-fixing scandal rocked the world of cricket after it was uncovered by the News of the World, the Rupert Murdoch-owned British tabloid which was shut down over a phone-hacking scandal in July this year.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10th,  2011.

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