Minister of Home Affairs Imran Abdulla declared on Tuesday that the Presidential Commission on Investigation of Deaths and Enforced Disappearances stated that there was no possibility of arresting or charging those accused of assassinating the prominent scholar and former Ungoofaaru MP Dr Afrasheem Ali.
Answering a question posed by Galolhu South MP Mickail Ahmed Naseem during Tuesday's parliament session over the actions taken by authorities following the commission's report on Dr Afrasheem, Imran revealed that he met with commission members, top officials of Maldives Police Service and Prosecutor General's (PG) Office staff twice, regarding the murder case.
"Commission members stated that they could not confirm whether anyone could be arrested based on the report", Imran said.
According to the Home Minister, he then offered a period of 24 hours for the commission to review and analyse all the statements in the report, in order to determine whether any arrests could be made.
"I met the members after 24 hours. They stated that the report did not provide any basis to issue an arrest warrant or press charges against the suspects", Imran answered.
According to the commission's report, the assassination was ordered by a terrorist organisation rooted in Maldives, headed by Mohamed Mazeedh and Saamith Mohamed, while Azlif Rauf was in charge of orchestrating the murder itself.
Mazeedh and Saamith are part of the organisation implicated in the abduction of journalist Ahmed Rilwan, who went missing in 2014.
Hussain Humam was convicted of Dr Afrasheem's murder and sentenced to capital punishment, with the Supreme Court maintaining the ruling. However, the commission's investigation maintains that Ali Shan, an initial suspect who was acquitted, may have participated in carrying out the killing as well. The report also noted that a minor and other individuals were known to be involved in the crime.
However, according to Imran, PG Office informed that Shan's case cannot be appealed due to lack of evidence.
Referring to the special law passed by the parliament, Minister Imran assured that Police are prepared to cooperate with any opportunity provided by the commission.
Despite mounting evidence, the commission have also stated that conducting further investigations would be difficult as some of the suspects implicated in Dr Afrasheem's murder have fled Maldives, reportedly to join ongoing conflicts taking place on foreign soil.
The commission noted that on the day following the murder, nine individuals departed from Velana International Airport (VIA), transiting in Qatar before continuing to Sudan and Syria. The report disclosed that the two individuals suspected of attacking Afrasheem at a mosque, Jadullah Ibrahim and Mohamed Nishan, were among those who fled.
Per the report, the aforementioned individuals were trained by the terrorist organisation run by Mazeedh and Saamith, and had carried out activities in the capital city of Male'.
Azlif Rauf, who was suspected of orchestrating the murder, fled Maldives in 2015 while the investigation into Afrasheem's assassination was ongoing. Although Azlif was later rumoured to be killed in the Syrian conflict, authorities have not officially confirmed his death.
Dr Afrasheem Ali was discovered stabbed to death in the stairwell of his home in the early hours of October 1, 2012.
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