The hitman had traveled to our port city last year to liquidate blogger Ahmad Waqass Goraya. He was sentenced to life in prison because it was proven that he participated in a conspiracy to kill the deblogger, prosecutors said. He must be in prison for at least 13 years before parole can be considered.
murder broker
The supermarket employee denied any guilt. He admitted to having received money from a murder broker, about 120,000 euros, but said he did so because he had significant debts. He said he never intended to actually commit the murder.
Investigations showed, however, that he kept an eye on Goraya’s house in Rotterdam for days, carrying a chef’s knife bought in our country, as well as a photo of the blogger. The thirty-something, who would be deeply in debt, eventually returned to England empty-handed because he could not find the target and was immediately arrested there.
hideout
The blogger has been living in the Netherlands for years, but has been seriously threatened for a long time. Because of that threat, he moves from one hiding place to another. In 2017, he was kidnapped and tortured while visiting family in Pakistan.
The reason was his blog on Facebook, in which he denounces human rights violations and criticizes the powerful Pakistani military apparatus. He was released after 24 days, but contrary to what the military had hoped, he refused to shut up afterwards. It soon became clear that his life was also in danger in the Netherlands.
“In February last year, the police were at the door: my life was in acute danger,” Goraya told De Telegraaf. ,,Since then I live in different places, I can’t see my parents or others from my old life. My son couldn’t go to school, I have to be careful not to be recognized in the neighborhood. I don’t even use a Dutch phone, which can be traced.”
quoted
Khan is said to have been recruited by intermediaries most likely based in Pakistan, which are attributed to Pakistani intelligence services. British police worked with Dutch authorities to build a record of his encrypted communications with intermediaries on WhatsApp and Signal and CCTV footage of his movements.
The Netherlands had received requests for legal assistance in the case from England, a spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service in Rotterdam previously confirmed to this newspaper. This has been obeyed.