Political blogger in exile Ahmed Waqas Goraya accused Pakistan of being behind the plot to kill him.
London:
An exiled political blogger accused Pakistan of plotting to kill a potential hitman after a British court convicted him on Friday.
Supermarket employee Mohammad Gohir Khan, 31, was found guilty of conspiring to kill Ahmed Waqas Goraya after being recruited by middlemen based in Pakistan.
A judge in south-west London’s Kingston-on-Thames adjourned the case for sentencing on March 11, with Khan facing life imprisonment.
Khan from east London was charged with conspiring with unknown people to kill Goraya in the Netherlands in June last year.
He was arrested after returning to the UK by train.
Goraya, an outspoken blogger and liberal activist who has been living outside Pakistan for over a decade, did not attend the hearing.
Following the unanimous jury’s decision, he said he was “glad that there is at least one new precedent: ‘If you come after someone in exile, you will be prosecuted.
He said he was disappointed, however, that the trial did not identify those who had committed the crime.
“I hope one day the real people who sent these people will also be prosecuted,” he told AFP.
Pointing to the conspirators’ knowledge of the amount of money involved and their secret location, he said: “I’m sure it’s a Pakistani state.”
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said the verdict “could serve as a landmark judgment” and was “a rare step towards establishing criminal accountability for international crimes against journalists”.
Rebecca Vincent, the RSF’s UK bureau director, said: “We ask the relevant authorities to continue our investigation, to identify the middleman and anyone else involved in this horrific conspiracy, and to ensure full criminal justice.”
UK police on Friday appealed to the public for information about the middleman who contacted Khan.
‘Enthusiastic’
Prosecutor Alison Morgan said Goraya, who lives in the Netherlands with his wife and two children, was targeted for speaking out against the Pakistani government and military in a satirical post on social media.
She told the jury that Khan was hired by “other people living in Pakistan”.
In 2018, the court was told that Goraya had received information from the FBI that he was on a “murder list” and believed that some of the threats he received were being led by Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI.
The jury heard that Khan was approached by a Pakistan-based middleman named Mudz, who had promised a $137,000, 120,000 euro fee for the “job”, from which he would deduct £20,000.
He also promised Khan to give “Janna” or wealth in heaven.
Khan received several thousand pounds for the expenses from a Pakistani bank account, promising: “Brother, I’ll do it.”
The court was told he had debts of over £200,000 at the time.
London’s Met Police on Friday urged the public to provide information about “Mudz”, saying detectives believe he is a former business associate of Khan known as Muzzamil.
Counter-terrorism officials at the Met liaised with Dutch counterparts to create a dossier of thousands of encrypted messages and security camera footage of Khan’s movements.
After traveling to the Netherlands on Eurostar, Khan spent several days looking at Goraya’s home in Rotterdam and bought a professional chef’s knife.
Realizing the blogger was away, he returned to the UK.
Khan pleaded not guilty at his trial and admitted to sending the message and traveling to Rotterdam.
But he claimed that he was only asking for money and that he never intended to kill.
“He was excited to commit the murder to make money and carry out more attacks in the future,” Morgan said.
Goraya had previously reported on violent attacks and threats against him.
In 2017 he said that he, along with four other activists, had been held captive and tortured in Pakistan for weeks.
The Pakistan Army denied any involvement.
Goraya told AFP on Friday that he and his family had to leave immediately after receiving information about the threat to his life.
“You have to change everything, start your life all over again. You’re surrounded by complete strangers, for safety’s sake,” he said.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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