Families of abducted journalist Ahmed Rilwan and murdered blogger Yameen Rasheed, have appealed to invite international experts to assist in the investigations.

The families made the appeal during a meeting with President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Thursday.

According to a statement released by the families, the purpose of the meeting was “to ensure that the Presidential Commission on Deaths and Disappearances has the resources necessary for the completion of their investigations”.

Noting that some observations related to the commission’s work were shared with the president, the families had requested the president to invite an international expert to join the investigation.

While the presidential commission in investigating over 20 cases, the statement stressed that doing so will “enhance the work of the commission and ensure justice for all the families connected to investigations undertaken by the commission”.

The statement further highlights the president’s “agreement to this request”.

Yameen Rasheed were stabbed to death at night, at the stairwell of his respective homes on 23rd April 2017; he was stabbed 32 times on 23rd April 2017. While Ahmed Rilwan went missing on 8th October 2014, it took the police two years to confirm his abduction. The Commission on Deaths and Disappearances had in September 2019, revealed that evidence showed that Rilwan was abducted, taken to the open sea on a dinghy boat and killed.

The two cases are among three of the most high-profile murders in the country’s history, with the third being the murder of parliamentarian Dr. Afrasheem Ali.

While police for years claimed that there were no connections in the three murders, the commission had in December 2018 revealed that the three cases have the ‘same pattern’ and hence are linked.

There have been concern over the delay in finding the perpetrators behind the crimes, but the commission stresses that their work is still ongoing.