British Pakistani grilled in blogger Ahmad Waqass Goraya's murder plot case

The UK prosecution on Tuesday grilled 31-year-old British Pakistani Gohir Khan about his intention to travel to the Netherlands allegedly as part of a conspiracy to kill self-exiled blogger Ahmad Waqass Goraya.

The trial entered its second week on Monday. The prosecution alleged that Khan had travelled to Rotterdam last year as part of a conspiracy to murder Goraya, and that he had undertaken a reconnaissance mission outside his home and even bought a tool with the aim to succeed in his mission, reported Dawn.

Alison Morgan QC led the prosecution and questioned why Khan did not approach the police when he was contacted by the Pakistan-based middleman Muzamil to kill someone; why Mr Khan kept asking if the 'job' or killing was a debt-related one; why he purchased a knife; and why he made efforts to deceive the immigration authorities to enter the Netherlands.

While maintaining that he was not guilty of intent to kill, the defendant claimed he "never intended to kill anyone", but that he "wanted to get money out of Muzamil as he owed him money".

He said he purchased the knife to cut steak, fruit and bread and travelled to the Netherlands to convince Muzamil to give him more money, reported Dawn.

He claimed the messages he sent to the middleman about the tool, the target and the job were meant only to give him the impression that he (Khan) was serious about the job but in reality all he wanted was money.

Morgan cross-examined Khan for several hours, going back to the timeline of events as established by Whatsapp and Signal messages, CCTV footage and receipts.

She pressed Khan on why he purchased a knife for 10.99 euros when there were cheaper options available, and why he waited until the next day to use the knife to eat the steak as he had wanted.

She also asked why Khan kept the receipt for the knife despite discarding others, and why he did not mention the knife to the police till he was confronted about it, to which he responded that he forgot as he had a lapse of memory, reported Dawn.

The prosecution will continue his cross-examination on Tuesday, and the jury will then review the statements of the defence and prosecution before it comes to a decision.

At previous hearings, the jury was told how Muzamil allegedly contacted Khan in 2021 with an offer to pay Pound 80,000 for the job, while telling him about his own commission of Pound 20,000.

It is unclear who Muzamil was working for, but evidence that Pound 5,000 was paid into a Pakistani bank account and received through a hundi transfer in London has been shared in the court, reported Dawn.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's deafening silence on the disclosers made in the UK Court in the case of Khan has raised serious questions on the country's stand on human rights and free speech.

( With inputs from ANI )

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