Rilwan's family concerned over Majlis stalling commissions bill

Family of abducted journalist Ahmed Rilwan has expressed concern over the bill on empowering the inquiry commission investigating his case being stalled in parliament.

In a statement on Tuesday, the family said that while current government leaders have made pledges to resolve Rilwan’s case, parliamentarians aligned with the ruling coalition have allowed the bill to remain unpassed.

Rilwan’s family also says that parliamentarians willingly obstructing the investigation depicts the unsettling possibility of complicity in his abduction.

As highlighted in Tuesday’s statement as well, chief of the presidential commission into ‘deaths and enforced disappearances’ has told the press that the bill being stalled blunts their investigation and delays conclusion.

The bill to empower the commission, one of two established by President Ibrahim Solih after being sworn-in in November last year, has been heard in parliament three times, but a high number of absentee MPs has caused failure to attain the necessary quorum for it to come to a vote.

For a vote on the bill, over half of the 85-seat house has to be present; a total of 43 members are required to be at the sitting.

Rilwan has been missing since August 8th, 2014, last seen purchasing a ticket to Hulhumalé. In August last year, the Criminal Court acquitted two suspects prosecuted on terrorism charges over the abduction, following what has been heavily described as a weak case and incomplete investigation.

President Solih's commission, headed by former attorney general Husnu Suood, is investigation 25 cases, including the murder of Afrasheem Ali, who had then been the MP for Ungoofaaru constituency, and blogger Yameen Rasheed. Suood told a press conference in December that the investigations will be complete by April.