Pak-based middleman Muzamil who hired hitman to kill blogger Goraya talked of future contract killings, UK jury told

Pakistan-based middleman, Muzamil, who hired hitman British Pakistani Gohir Khan, 31, to kill dissident blogger Ahmad Waqass Goraya had also mentioned future 'jobs', a UK jury heard on Tuesday.

Voice clip played in court linked more assignments with blogger's murder plot success, reported Dawn.

The prosecution said the first mention of a 'job' of this nature was in November or December 2020, but that no details were shared of the target.

Then, a voice note shared on a messaging application was played in court, in which a man with a British accent could be heard saying -- "If the first one is done nicely within a month, then by the end of June you will get another one and the third one. You'll keep getting a cut of about Pound 20,000- Pound30,000 depending on the quality of work," reported Dawn.

To this voice message, Khan responded with a laugh, "I don't guarantee quality, Inshallah we guarantee job to be done."

In a follow-up text, the defendant referred to the murder plot using Muzamil's nickname, "Papa, your boys shine in the whole of the UK. Europe will be our best effort."

Muzamil was nicknamed Papa, according to Khan, because of his resemblance to the cartoon character Papa Smurf, reported Dawn.

The prosecution produced this evidence in court to challenge Khan's submission that he did not intend to kill Goraya and that he was in it just to extract money.

Alison Morgan QC, leading the prosecution, said there would have been no more jobs if the defendant had ripped the middleman off, reported Dawn.

Defendant Khan repeatedly said he did not intend to kill anyone, and that he told Muzamil lies in the hope that he could extract money from him.

At previous hearings, Khan detailed how Muzamil was a fraudster who owed him money and was responsible for his poor financial predicament.

However, the prosecution alleged that Khan was a habitual liar, who had lied to numerous individuals, including members of his family, immigration officials as well as his friends, in order to further his efforts in this plot, reported Dawn.

Morgan said Khan sought to justify the killing to himself by seeking confirmation on three occasions from Muzamil that it was not a 'debt-related job'.

She said this squaring of his conscience with the killing showed intention. She said the language used by the defendant in response to Muzamil when the deal was first mentioned demonstrated he was not pretending.

When Muzamil was sending details of the target to Khan, he was not seen reacting in horror, pulling out of the plan or expressing outrage, the prosecutor said.

She also stressed that the jury should think about the extent to which Khan had dragged his family into an alleged criminal activity, and whether he would have done so if it was for as he claimed a few thousand pounds.

Morgan named a teacher Aziz, whom the defendant approached to write a fake letter of support for his travel to the Netherlands so he could defraud authorities. She also named an individual Akki, who helped him obtain a fake PCR test, reported Dawn.

She brought attention to how the defendant persisted on travel to the Netherlands, and described how he told Dutch immigration authorities about a fictitious brother and argued with them about not letting him see his brother.

If he was just pretending, she said, why did he then, upon being denied entry to Amsterdam, two days later then board the Eurostar to Paris to regain entry to the Netherlands. "His eye was on a much bigger prize. If the prize hadn't been that big he would obviously have stopped at that point," she said.

Morgan then mentioned the knife that the prosecution alleged was the intended murder weapon. She said the knife was among the most expensive in the range available at the shop, something disguisable and one that could be kept close to his person, but also one that allegedly would be fit for his purpose.

"This knife was not to cut up a three-day-old steak," she said, adding that he hid the purchase from police officers for most of the interviews.

The defence will make its closing arguments on Wednesday after which the jury will deliberate and share its verdict, reported Dawn.

( With inputs from ANI )

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