Malé, Maldives – Three arrested in connection with the brutal murders of journalist Ahmed Rilwan and blogger Yameen Rasheed have been charged.
The accused are Ahmed Muaz, Ismail Abdul Raheem and Ahmed Ismail, who were all arrested last June. A break down of the charges against all three men as published by the Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office revealed the Ismail Abdul Raheem was charged with aiding and abetting in an act of terrorism on both counts. It was detailed that the charges were raised against him for assisting in stalking, kidnapping and murdering Rilwan in 2014, as well as assisting in stalking and murdering Yameen.
With regards to both counts of murder, Ahmed Ismail was charged with organising an act of terrorism. According to the PG Office statement, Rilwan and Yameen’s murders were both planned by Ismail and Rilwan’s murder was carried out as planned by Ismail and his counterparts.
The third accused, Ahmed Muaz, also has charges of organising an act of terrorism against him for his participation in organising the deaths of Rilwan and Yameen.
Rilwan, who was forcefully disappeared on 7th August 2014, was a journalist at Minivan News. According to the statement by Commission on Investigation of Murders and Enforced Disappearances of Maldives on September 2019, Rilwan was murdered and then submerged into the ocean by individuals with ties to Al-Qaeda, after declaring him an apostate among them.
Rilwan’s friend Yameen was murdered on April 23, 2017, at a time when he was actively advocating justice for Rilwan. Two people have already been convicted for intentionally murdering an individual.
