PG meets with murdered blogger's family for the first time
PG says 'will do utmost' to ensure Yameen's family are allowed inside court for hearings
Yameen Rasheed\'s father Hussain Rasheed (R) and mother with members of the civil society
Prosecutor General (PG) Aishath Bisham met with murdered writer Yameen Rasheed’s family for the first time on Sunday, and assured them that she will do her utmost to ensure that his family members are allowed inside the closed off hearings.
While Yameen’s family, along with his lawyers and members of civil society had gone to the PG Office to request a meeting, PG Bisham only met and spoke to Yameen’s parents.
Speaking to the press after the meeting, Yameen’s father Hussain Rasheed said that PG Bisham had said that the hearings currently taking place at the Criminal Court are pre-trial hearings, and that his family and lawyers will be allowed to attend the hearings ‘once it moves forward to trial’.
She told the despondent parents that the pre-trial hearings are being closed off to the public ‘because it is done so in some other countries as well’.
Hussain Rasheed said that the PG denied meetings with the rest saying that they ‘are only able to share information with the family at the moment’. PG Bisham had assured him that she will meet with the members of the civil society ‘later’, to hear their concerns in the matter.
Furthermore, the PG told them that a special presentation will be held for the family and lawyers, at the office next week.
Speaking after, former vice president at the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) and current Senior Project Coordinator at Transparency Maldives, Ahmed Tholal said that he does not know any other nation that close off the pre-trial hearings in such a gruesome murder which is closely related to the public.
Noting that there were concerns over how the investigation into the murder was carried out, Tholal said that ‘it is unlikely that justice will be served through a closed trial’.
Yameen’s family has also gone to the Maldives Police Service, seeking support in their efforts to get the trial opened. However, the family said that they have yet to get a response from the police.
Last Monday marked the one-year anniversary of Yameen’s murder. Yameen was found in the stairwell of his home in capital city Malé in the early hours of April 23rd, 2017 with over thirty stab wounds on his chest and his throat slashed. Authorities’ decision to close off the hearings was received by immense criticism from the public, including the international community.
