Charges against suspects in 3 major murders sent back
Inquiry commission sought charges against Mohamed Mazeed and Saamith Mohamed
Pictured (L-R): Dr. Afrasheem Ali, Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla, Yameen Rasheed
The Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) has returned the charges against two suspects sought by the Presidential Commission on Murders and Enforced Disappearances, over three of the biggest murders in the country’s history.
Speaking to RaajjeMV, Prosecutor General (PG) Hussain Shameem revealed that the case was not sent back because the PGO has decided against pressing charges but that it was sent back to complete some parts of the investigation stage that were overlooked. Shameem stated that there were some procedures that needed to be completed as well as additional information that needed to be collected.
On December 3rd, the inquiry commission announced that that it was seeking charges against the suspected masterminds behind the murders of lawmaker Dr Afrasheem Ali, journalist Ahmed Rilwan and pro-democracy activist Yameen Rasheed.
The suspects are Mohamed Mazeed and Saamith Mohamed, both are considered religious extremists.
Home Minister Imran Abdulla recently claimed that there was no room to raise charges against any individuals based on the commission report, adding that he had met with officials from the presidential commission, police and the Prosecutor General’s Office twice since the report was released.
Furthermore, Imran claimed that he had questioned these officials on whether anyone can be prosecuted at the first meeting, adding that he was informed that it cannot be disclosed at the time.
As such, former president of the inquiry commission Husnu Suood had, in November, said that the leaders of this hard-line religious group are identified through the statements of three witnesses, adding that this is also proven through the evidence gathered by the police and National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) “in the past seven years.”
Hence, Suood said that there is no room to say that the commission report is incomplete.
Dr. Afrasheem Ali was stabbed to death in the stairwell of his house in the capital city, in October 2012, while Yameen Rasheed was stabbed to death in the stairwell of his home in April 2017. Rilwan was last seen in August 2014, and police confirmed his abduction two years later in 2016. The inquiry commission, formed on November 2018, revealed that Rilwan was killed by an extremist group in September this year.
