The Prosecutor General's Office (PG) on Tuesday, rejected the cases forwarded by the Presidential Commission on Disappearances and Deaths (DDCom), citing inadequate investigations.
Three cases against those charged in relation to the murders of social media blogger Yameen Rasheed, former MP and religious scholar, Dr Afrasheem Ali and the disappeared journalist Ahmed Rilwan were submitted to the PG Office on December 3.
DDCom pressed charges against Mohamed Mazeed and Saamith Mohamed, also considered to be religious extremists, for their involvement in orchestrating the three interlinked crimes.
The commission also pressed charges against former Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, for providing false information in connection with the murder of the religious scholar.
The commission's investigation found discrepancies between Dr Shaheem's statement regarding a television programme that Dr Afrasheem was scheduled to appear on the night of his murder and a number of text messages exchanged between the two.
As reported in local media Mihaaru, an official from PG Office revealed that the cases against Mazeed and Saamith were rejected on the basis of an inadequate investigation, and were asked to resubmit for prosecution following further investigations. Shaheem's case was also rejected, requesting the commission to launch a criminal investigation with the Police against the former minister.
The Presidential Commission's investigation revealed that a local extremist group affiliated with al-Qaeda, running terrorist cells and collaborating with local gangs, were involved in the murders.
However, Minister of Home Affairs Imran Abdulla and Commissioner of Police Mohamed Hameed deemed DDCom's investigative report as lacking sufficient evidence to charge those implicated in the matter.
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