Local media Mihaaru reported, on Tuesday, that a foreign investigator had arrived in Maldives to assist relevant authorities in the probe in journalist Ahmed Rilwan’s death.
During last July, Rilwan's family had requested the state to hire a foreign expert to conduct the investigation into the case that has yet to see justice after six years since the journalist’s disappearance.
According to Mihaaru, the Presidential Commission on the Investigation of Deaths and Enforced Disappearances (DDCom), established by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to investigate high-profile cold cases, confirmed that the foreign expert is working with the commission.
DDCom’s member Misbah Abbas told Mihaaru that they had “been working with a foreign expert for a while”. However, he refrained from revealing any further details on the matter.
In 2019, DDCom revealed that Rilwan was murdered following his abduction.
The commission's report stated that Rilwan's murder resulted from a clash between some liberals and an extremist group, the latter reportedly being an affiliate of the militant multi-national extremist organization, al-Qaeda.
Further, the commission revealed on December 3, 2019, that the case was forwarded to Prosecutor General's (PG) Office, to press charges against Mohamed Mazeed and Smith Mohamed suspected of masterminding Rilwan's enforced disappearance.
However, PG Office had rejected the case over procedural issues, and no charges were pressed against any suspects. Rilwan's case has yet to reach trial.
The Solih administration has faced severe backlash over the delay in convicting the perpetrators involved in Rilwan's murder and enforced disappearance, especially since ensuring justice in similar cases was one of President Solih's main electoral pledges.
However, since his election to office in 2018, President Solih has repeatedly maintained that the state will do everything possible to ensure justice for Rilwan.
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