Spot-fixing trial: Salman, Asif want to move to Pakistani jail

Duo reportedly worried about their safety at the Canterbury Prison.

Jailed Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif are uncomfortable with the attention they are receiving from fellow inmates and want to be transferred to a jail in their own country to serve their sentences after being found involved in the spot-fixing scam, according to The Independent.

Butt and Asif have reportedly told their lawyers that they would prefer to be sent to a jail in Pakistan, because the attention they are receiving from fellow inmates is leading to fears for their safety. A High Court application is expected to be made within the next eight weeks.

The duo was transferred from Wandsworth Prison in south London to Canterbury Prison in Kent this week, which holds foreign nationals convicted in Britain.

Inmates of the prison are generally deported back to their countries at the end of their sentences.

A British Pakistani businessman Dalawar Chaudhry met Asif at the prison this week and said the jailed players are not too happy with the attention they are attracting.

“They are high-profile inmates who are worried about their safety,” he said. “They only have each other in this country and are feeling quite vulnerable. They have said that if they’re going to be deported at the end of their sentences then they should be allowed to leave Britain and finish their sentence in a Pakistan jail.”

Asif was jailed for one year and Butt for two-and-a-half years for involvement in the spot-fixing scandal.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th,  2011.