Muhammad Gohir Khan, a British-Pakistani man, has chosen to plead not guilty to charges of conspiracy to murder exiled blogger Ahmad Waqass Goraya that were brought against him by a Crown Court earlier this year in London. He had appeared before the Old Bailey on the 28th of June facing charges of conspiracy to murder Goraya.
According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), he “conspired together with persons unknown to murder Ahmad Waqass Goraya, contrary to section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.”
Gohir Khan’s trial is expected to begin on the 11th of January 2022.
Goraya had been attacked in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, where he had been living in exile. Gohir Khan allegedly traveled to Rotterdam from London in February, staying there for three days, hiring a car and going to the area where Goraya lived. Dutch police claim to have known of Gohir Khan’s plans, and had already moved Goraya and his family into protective custody.
Gohir Khan allegedly went to the Netherlands several times over the course of the year, but was arrested on the 24th of June 2021 in the context of the murder conspiracy. Working with Dutch law enforcement, Scotland Yard personnel arrested Khan on his arrival in London on a train that set off from the Netherlands.
Earlier this year, Goraya said that British police visited him in the Netherlands and recorded his statement.
