Not-Gulity but suspended
From the Blog pakistanledger - Not-Gulity but suspended November 1st, 2010 Image via Wikipedia Shamed Pakistan players remain suspended after ICC rejects appeals No reprieve in Dubai courtroom for spot-fixing trio Salman Butt ‘s lawyer dismisses allegations as ‘rubbish’ The Pakistan players at the centre of the spot‑fixing scandal that rocked cricket will remain absent from the sport indefinitely, after two of the trio today had appeals against their provisional suspensions turned down. It also emerged today that the Crown Prosecution Service was not yet in a position to decide whether to charge the players in a parallel criminal investigation, meaning they are likely to remain in limbo until at least next year. The International Cricket Council has repeatedly made clear that the criminal investigation must take precedence and it will not proceed with the tribunal until cleared to do so by Scotland Yard . The former Pakistan captain, Salman Butt, and the highly rated teenage fast bowler Mohammad Amir today saw their suspensions upheld after a 12-hour, two-day ICC hearing in Dubai. The third player suspended in the wake of newspaper allegations that the trio accepted money via a middleman to bowl no-balls at specific points during the fourth Test against England at Lord’s this summer, Mohammad Asif , withdrew his appeal earlier this month. “Their cases will go forward to the anti-corruption tribunal who will adjudicate as soon as practical upon whether the several charges made against them are proved,” said Michael Beloff, chairman of the ICC’s code of conduct commission, after dismissing the applications. The hearing was solely concerned with determining whether the ICC followed the correct procedures in imposing the bans. One of Butt’s lawyers, the former law minister Khalid Ranjha, said their concern now was to get the case heard at a tribunal, adding that the allegations published by the newspaper “were rubbish”. When asked whether he thought he would play cricket again, Butt replied: “Yes, definitely.” Amir declined to comment. The decision was viewed by some as an indication that the ICC has a strong case. “I believe the ICC has some solid evidence against our players otherwise they would have allowed them to continue playing,” said Pakistan’s former Test fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz. “They heard our players and lawyers for over 12 hours and they must have told them something which we still don’t know. It will be disappointing that we will not be able to see these top two players in action against South Africa.” The duo appealed the suspensions hoping to join the Pakistan team in the United Arab Emirates for the ongoing series against South Africa which resumed yesterday with the second one-day international in Abu Dhabi. Asif is already banned from the UAE as a result of an earlier drugs offence. Legal experts remain sceptical over whether the Metropolitan Police and the CPS will be able to make criminal charges stick. The CPS said today that it had yet to receive enough information from the Metropolitan Police to decide whether to file charges, despite a statement from Scotland Yard last month saying that an initial batch of evidence had been handed over. A decision on whether to charge the trio, suspended by the ICC on 3 September following the allegations, is unlikely to be made before the end of the year. The only likely options open to the CPS are conspiracy to defraud bookmakers, which is unlikely to result in a conviction because there is no evidence a bet was placed on the no-balls in question, and the offence of cheating under the Gambling Act, which remains untested in court. The difficulties involved were highlighted last week when a judge gave prosecutors 28 days to come up with a new charge against former Essex player Mervyn Westfield . He had been charged with conspiracy to defraud his fellow players and paying spectators for allowing a certain number of runs to be scored in a match against Durham in September 2009, but the judge said the offence was not recognised in law. Meanwhile, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat will be relieved to avoid the potential PR disaster of the trio turning out for Pakistan at the World Cup , which begins on February 19, with the charges still hanging over them. But lawyers acting for the cricketers have previously argued that the provisional suspensions could prejudice the ongoing police investigation and will be watching ICC investigators closely as they continue their parallel inquiries. . Read Full Post
Obama in Delhi: Over-exaggerated and overblown
From the Blog pakistanledger - Obama in Delhi: Over-exaggerated and overblown November 1st, 2010 Image by jmtimages via Flickr President Obama 's visit to India needs not be over-emphasized. The Bush administration 's strategic policy towards Asia-Pacific was critically pegged on an assumed alliance between the US and India. Then, the US was unquestioned and sole superpower of the world – a power that was apparently on a hunting spree for strategic locations, minerals, and energy resources around the globe. Containing and suffocating the awakening dragon was a crucial goal in the whole game plan. The occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq was deemed as a pivotal advancement towards an unwinding strategic great game at the global chess. That was when the US turned towards Indians for a strategic alliance. The two wars, however, turned out to be more of a trap than a trophy for the US. The sky rocketing war costs (in terms of both financial and human life) quickly released almost all the steam from 'American century' war engine. Faltering economy paved the way for a change of guards in the US and forced Obama administration to reevaluate the goals and strategy of the previous administration. China emerged as an economic savior trying to cure the economic woes by buying US treasury bonds. Indians lost their crucial place in the strategic US plans. There may be some economic mass in Obama's Indian sojourn. But nothing of strategic nature. It will be more of a seller-buyer interaction. Earlier this year, UK 's Gordon Brown unsuccessfully tried to do the same. While India is trying to have free trade agreements with several countries, the net result will be increased the volume of sub-standard Indian goods flowing to those countries. Indians are infamous for their use of restrictive tactics on the imports from other countries. Given the Indian mentality and past practices, it is almost impossible to imagine that Indians would allow 'free' imports from other countries. The US, South Korea, and Japan would, however, get ample opportunities to export high-tech items to India because Indians desperately need such imports to catch up with China. Chinese are marching non-stop of the road to progress and prosperity while leaving Indians growingly lagging behind. With hundreds of millions of its populace living under sub-Saharan poverty line, Indian leadership is feverishly spending hundreds of billions of dollars in importing military systems and madly busy in power projection. Some commentators may be suggesting that Obama may give a nod to India quest for permanent berth at the UNSC . That seems unlikely. India has been in continued violation of UN resolutions on J&K dispute. Indians have been outrightly rejecting any adherence to those resolutions and that is seen as a slap in the face of the world community. It was indeed a disgrace for the world when India somehow got elected as a non-permanent member of UNSC just recently. One may wish to the UNSC to really have a dubious distinction and ultimate disgrace by allowing another similar global rouge of the same category, Israel, to have a seat at the UNSC. It is unimaginable that how these two rouge countries – after committing grave human rights violators for decades in their occupied lands of J&K and Palestine, killing tens of thousands of human beings , and still having their illegal occupations in clear violation of pertinent UN resolutions – will be trying to define and protect the international laws. Future historians will undoubtedly recognize the current world leaders as bloody hypocrites who enslaved themselves to their national interests and lied to the world. pakbird47.pakbird47@yahoo.com. 2010/10/31 at 1:48 am . Read Full Post
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