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Richard Sydenham at Southwark Crown Court
October 20, 2011
Mohammed Asif was "sucked in" to fixing by his former captain Salman Butt and agent Mazhar Majeed, the prosecution told a London court on Thursday, as Asif stood in the witness stand.
Asif took the witness box at about 10.30am and will continue most likely for Friday morning. He denied having much of a relationship with tainted agent Majeed and also said he had no knowledge of any corruption going on in the Pakistan team or even just in relation to the alleged pre-determined no-balls at Lord's.
"The sad truth is that you were sucked in to a web of corruption and there were two people responsible for this situation," Jafferjee said. "They are Mazhar Majeed and Salman Butt. You also knew how young Amir had been sucked in." Asif replied: "No."
Jafferjee spent time ascertaining whether Mazhar Majeed was Asif's agent or not. Asif maintained he was not and said he had never signed a contract with him. Jafferjee re-read the police interview from the initial investigation and asked why he never said at any stage that Majeed was not his agent.
"They didn't ask me so how can I say whether he is my agent or not," Asif responded.
Butt and Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments following the Lord's Test last year when they allegedly conspired with agent Mazhar Majeed, teenager Mohammad Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-planned no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.
Meantime, Asif was asked about his thoughts on Amir and what kind of personality he was, and whether he was an innocent, respectful young man.
Asif, who said he was Amir's friend only inside the ground, revealed that the youngster was not exactly intimidated by his seniors and told of an incident on tour in New Zealand.
"Amir had a fight with Umar Gul in a Test match in New Zealand," Asif said. "Gul had finished his over and went to take a position in the field where Amir wanted to field and they had some disagreement and a fight in the dressing room."
The case continues.
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