The Parliament's Security Services Committee (Committee 241), on Sunday, decided to conduct a closed-door meeting concerning the report compiled by the Commission on Investigation of Murders and Enforced Disappearances on the disappearance of journalist Ahmed Rilwan.
The decision to conduct discussions privately was only finalised after Commission president Husnu al-Suood and member Misbaah Abbas presented themselves at the parliament. Local media representatives had arrived at the premises by then.
The Parliamentary Committee's meeting with leaders of the Maldives Police Services (MPS), held on Thursday, was also closed to the media.
The presidential commission is currently under heavy public criticism due to its failure to respond to concerns regarding the report despite Suood providing a thorough account of the case at a recent press conference.
Furthermore, the commission came under fire after Suood presented a summary of the report, hailed as the most detailed and disturbing compilation released by a Maldivian institution to date, to Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed. The speaker had distributed copies to the parliamentary group leaders, which were later withdrawn.
Speaking at a press conference on September 1, Suood disclosed that most of the evidence indicated that Rilwan was murdered by a local extremist group affiliated with al-Qaeda. However, he said that disparities between different testimonies prevented the aforementioned evidence from being sufficient to prove a murder.
Rilwan's whereabouts remain unknown since he was abducted in a red car on August 8, 2014, in reclaimed suburb Hulhumale'.
Despite the state previously charging two suspects over Rilwan's disappearance, the Criminal Court later acquitted the individuals. To date, the case has not been appealed at the High Court.
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