Trial verdict pre-determined: Khalid’s lawyer

 Spot-fixing charges

LAHORE: The lawyer of suspended batsman Khalid Latif claimed on Monday that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had already made up its mind to punish the player on charges of spot-fixing.

The 31-year-old batsman stands accused of attempting to spot-fix, accepting an offer by a bookmaker, and luring other players in it.

His counsel Badar Alam said in a video message they did not expect justice from the three-member tribunal hearing the charges against Latif.

“We don’t believe we can get justice from this tribunal. Trial without our participation proves our reservations. How can you expect to have a fair trial when all the members of the tribunal served the cricket board in some capacity in the past,” Alam said.

On Saturday Latif and Alam boycotted the hearing by the tribunal which is headed by a former Lahore High Court judge, claiming all three members were former employees of the board and could not be expected to dispense justice fairly.

PCB’s legal advisor Tafazzul Rizvi said the two were trying to sabotage the tribunal proceedings. “Even if they don’t appear for the hearings we can still proceed under the anti-corruption laws,” Rizvi said.

Alam demanded that the video recordings of the trial be released. “They (the PCB) claim that they cannot release the video because it is their private matter, which proves that they’ve already made up their mind to punish the player,” he added.