Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath has ordered Maldives Police Service (MPS) to seek a court order to arrest two officers of the police intelligence unit, accused of obstructing investigations into abducted and murdered Journalist Ahmed Rilwan’s case.

The order was made via a letter the AG addressed to the police on Thursday, requesting prompt action against those found guilty of neglect in Rilwan’s murder.

Speaking to RaajjeMV, AG Riffath stated that three points were noted in the letter; to seek a court order to arrest Corporal Mohamed Jinah and Corporal Ibrahim Riffath who are accused of obstructing the investigations into Rilwan’s disappearance. As such, the AG believes that their liberty to live normally among the society is an impediment to an independent investigation into the case.

Noting that the presidential inquiry commission on murders and enforced disappearances had in their report in Rilwan’s case, specified an a-grade source having reached out to the Intelligence Unit with information of a group planning to drown two individuals in June 2014 with the help of local gangs.

The letter addressed from AG Riffath inquires the MPS on why the matter has not been investigated, and why they have not taken any actions on the information attained.

Further, Riffath has sought from the MPS to sack employees accused of being involved in it.

Following the surfacing of serious accusations and issues regarding Rilwan’s case in a recent probe, the AG sought action from the police under the responsibilities vested to him under the Maldives Constitution. As such, article 133 (b) of the constitution states that it is the “duty of the AG to advice the government on all legal matters affecting the State. The Attorney General’s duties include performance of all legal duties pertaining to his office, and discharge of all responsibilities required to be discharged by the Attorney General, by the Constitution and by law.”

This comes at a time former President and Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed has also urged authorities to take prompt and strict action against all officers involved in the abduction and inhumane murder of the journalist.

Nasheed was presented with the report on Rilwan’s murder by the presidential commission earlier.

Police is yet to comment on the matter.

The immigration office had this week withheld the passports of 15 individuals over the case.

Rilwan was last seen purchasing a ticket to the Hulhumalé ferry from capital city Malé, on 8 August 2014. Two years later in 2016, the police had confirmed that Rilwan was adducted and that one of the men caught trailing Rilwan on CCTV footage had been identified as Mohamed Suaid, who was arrested but released by the Criminal Court in November 2014. Him and Aalif Rauf, a brother of one of the suspects in the case had been pronounced dead in battle, after having left to Syria shortly after.

Commission President Husnu Al Suood has confirmed that Rilwan was abducted, taken onboard a boat and killed at sea by religious extremists.

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) had begun investigating High Court Judge Hassan Ali based on the report compiled by the commission, in Rilwan’s case. The report indicates that Hassan Ali, during his time as Immigration Controller, had met with two Intelligence police officers who wanted to discuss concealing Rilwan’s murder by forging a passport to prove to authorities that Rilwan had flown to Syria.