London: The opening hearing of the spot-fixing case against three Pakistani cricketers begins today at the Southwark Crown Court. This was confirmed by the spokesman at the Southwark Crown Court yesterday.
The hearing will last for two days and would be conducted by Justice Cook.
“Since it is a multi-handler hearing, all three players have been asked to appear in person.” the spokesman told a Pakistani newspaper.
The spokesman added that the proceedings related to an application to dismiss the case lodged by the defence. There will be arguments before the trial judge however the players would not be cross-examined at this stage.
Muhammad Asif will be represented by his lawyer Robert Binning and he will be appearing before the court today.
Muhammad Amir and agent Mazhar Majeed will also be appearing before the court today. While former captain, Salman Butt will not be attending the hearing since his visa for London has expired and he has given his passport for visa application.
The same court had earlier on May 20th approved the bails of the players, but directed them to appear before the court in the end of July.
Asif, Amir and Butt are charged with spot-fixing during the Pakistan’s tour of England. Majeed an agent is accused of providing money to these three players to bowl no-balls in Pakistan’s Test match against England. This math-fixing scandal was disclosed by News of The World newspaper.
After the two-day hearing that is being held on Tuesday and Wednesday, it would be decided where the accused will stand trial and who will be conducting that trial.
