President Yameen repeatedly refuses to meet: Rilwan's mother

President Abdulla Yameen and First Lady Fathimath Ibrahim has thus far disregarded attempts by missing journalist Ahmed Rilwan’s family to meet them, his mother said on Sunday.

At a talk-show on RaajjeTelevision, Aiminath Easa – whose son has been missing since 2014 – said that her family has repeatedly asked President Yameen and the First Lady to meet them to discuss the reported abduction.

“We have made appointments and met with several heads of state institutions and corporations to ask them to help us find my son, we made an appointment President Yameen as well, but the President’s Office kept delaying it – once for his Hajj pilgrimage and then a trip to Singapore, there is never the time” Aiminath said.

She said other members of government and even the opposition had met with her family, including then Vice President Ahmed Adheeb and former President Mohamed Nasheed.

“Adheeb had met with us the day he came back from a trip to Japan that he was on, he promised us that he would do everything he could, he would search safaris and any place he could, they are still searching I suppose” she said.

Aiminath said she does not want to make any assumptions about her missing son’s fate, especially whether or not he is alive. However, she said that she believes that her son had been abducted for political reasons and the state’s failure to solve the case and conclude the investigation further supports this belief.

Journalist Ahmed Rilwan has been missing since August of 2014. The police announced only last year that they had gathered substantial evidence to conclude that he was abducted.