The government of Maldives has condemned the ‘brutal inhumanely attack’ on social media activist Yameen Rasheed.

The government said that it condemned Yameen’s murder ‘in the strongest possible terms’, adding that with his death, the country has lost ‘a young, energetic, voice full or potential that contributed heavily, and responsibly, to the social and political discourse of our nation’.

“He was a conscious, civic minded, talented, creative, courageous and impassioned young soul- everything the youth of this nation should aspire to be and more,” reads a statement by the President’s Office.

It further said that Yameen ‘will always be recognised as a proponent of change; especially, but not just limited to, his active and iridescent presence on social media and his more recent work on an app to drive and sustain blood donations’, adding that Yameen ‘was passionate in harnessing technology and innovation for the greater good’.

Yameen Rasheed, 29, was discovered at around 3 am on Saturday, with multiple stab wounds to his chest, neck and throat. He was the chief editor of ‘The Daily Panic’, an investigative and sarcastic look into the weekly political and social issues facing the country. He was a close friend of journalist Ahmed Rilwan, who was abducted in August 2014, and has been missing since.

Yameen is the latest victim of the targeted attacks towards bloggers and social media activists in the Maldives in the past five years. Authorities are yet to conclude the investigations, while Yameen had, on many occasions, reported death threats that he had received to the Maldives Police Service (MPS).

Noting that the nation ‘mourns a great loss’, President Abdulla Yameen has also sent condolences to Yameen’s family, and condemned his murder.

President Office said that the President has called on all state agencies and independent agencies ‘to fully deploy their resources in bringing the perpetrators of this heinous act to justice’.

“We will not stand idly by while such acts of hatred are forced upon our citizens,” said the President, calling on those with any information to come forward to help ‘deliver justice for the sake of Yameen’s family, friends, community and the entire nation’.