Govt. will soon begin taking action on suspects in Rilwan’s case: President

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said that the government will soon begin taking action on suspects in the case of murdered journalist Ahmed Rilwan and that he will not hesitate to arrest anyone if deemed necessary.

At Monday’s press conference, the President noted that Rilwan’s family and friends have been urging the government to act quickly based on the presidential commission’s report on Rilwan’s case.

President Solih said that a meeting was held with the police, prosecutor general and attorney general and that they have agreed to work together and take the necessary steps to move forward with the case.

President Solih also said that the presidential commission has given him two different draft reports, which contradict each other since the case is still being investigated, and so he has requested the commission to send in a final draft report as soon as possible.

He also said that some laws need to be changed as they move forward with the case, especially criminal procedure and anti-terrorism laws. He said that the current Anti-Terrorism Act has not been used to target terrorism and that the laws need to have a clear definition of what terrorism is and allow authorities to quickly arrest terrorist suspects.

Journalist Ahmed Rilwan was last seen purchasing a ticket at the ferry terminal in Malé on August 8th, 2014.

At the latest press briefing on September 1, the presidential commission stated that Rilwan was kidnapped and killed by religious extremists.

Since then, passports of 15 people have been withheld and the attorney general has requested the police service to seek arrest orders for two intelligence officers implicated in the case.