It is “worrying” that reform of the Maldives Police Service (MPS) is not moving faster, says Parliament Speaker and Former President Mohamed Nasheed.

While it has been 15 years since the brutal murder of inmate Evan Naseem, Nasheed took to Twitter on Thursday, writing that 15 years ago today, the police division of the National Security Service (NSS) had beaten Naseem to death in Maafushi Prison.

He went on to add that they then shot unarmed inmates who had protested Evan’s murder which in turn triggered nationwide riots.

This, led to the start of the democracy movement, Nasheed said.

On 19 September 2003 during the administration of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Evan Naseem, a drug offender, was beaten to death by prison security personnel who had denied the abuse.

Following this, Nasheed had demanded Naseem’s body to be examined by a doctor, going on to expose the torture that was inflicted on the 19-year-old.

The boy’s death triggered a wave of riots nationwide, with locals alleged to have set police premises and vehicles on fire for the gross violation of human rights.

A state of emergency was then declared by Gayoom’s government that drew international attention.

This comes at a time the Speaker has revealed having received multiple threats for pushing investigations into the abduction and consequent murder of Minivan News Journalist Ahmed Rilwan. He had asserted that he was being “spied on” and monitored by the police.

Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) has since revealed through a statement that the former does not face any threats or dangers, denying his allegations of being monitored by authorities.