Mosharraf Hossain and Mahbubul Alam Robin’s lawyer, Noorus Sadik Chowdhury,submitted a letter to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) yesterday defending the two cricketers against charges of fixing related offenses. The barrister said that the charges were baseless and false.
“These are baseless allegations that have no substantial evidence to back it up, they’ve been made up by imagination. I don’t want to comment any further due to my client’s confidentiality,” said Noorus.
“The allegations that have been made are based on doubt, and are open to question. ‘Doubt’ is not solid ground for these allegations – it’s a baseless foundation,” he added.
He went on to question whether the ICC or its Anti-Corruption Security Unit (Acsu) has the authority to investigate this case. “We have doubts whether Acsu or the ICC even have the authority to investigate the case, according to the disciplinary code. We are trying to prove they don’t.
“There are specific sections of the anti-corruption code of the BCB according to which, Acsu and ICC do not have the authority to frame charges or even investigate under these circumstances,” he added.
Noorus also asked the BCB to lift the suspension that has been imposed on his clients.“In other countries, the accused are permitted to play until proven guilty, but that is not the case here. There might be a conspiracy here. We’ve have asked them (the BCB) to withdraw the ban on the cricketers.”
He went on to speak about how his clients were emotionally handling the situation. “It’s a depressing situation for them. They are both promising players and these kinds of allegations have put them in an awkward situation. Still, they are confident things will work out – they’re not devastated, but melancholy.”
Another person who has been accused of wrong doing, Dhaka Gladiators owner Selim Chowdhury, also sent a letter to the BCB through his lawyer pleading his innocence.