UN Resident Coordinator meets with police, expresses concerns

UN Resident Coordinator Shoko Noda has on Thursday met with officials from Maldives Police Service (MPS).

In a tweet sent out on Thursday evening, United Nations in the Maldives- the official twitter account of the United Nations System in the Maldives- revealed that the RC met with police to stress some concerns.

At the meeting, Ms. Noda expressed “the need for a thorough, impartial investigation” in to the brutal murder of writer and pro-democracy activist Yameen Rasheed, stressing on the importance of “strengthening response mechanisms to threats”.

One of the most prominent bloggers in the country, Yameen Rasheed was stabbed to death in the early hours on Sunday morning. While police are yet to make any arrests, they have said that the culprits have been identified. While they have released photos of the two suspect, their faces are not clear in the photos.

Prior to his assassination, Yameen had reported multiple death threats he had received to the authorities, but to no avail, showing that the police had failed to protect his life. Amnesty International called on the government to investigate the police’s failure to protect Yameen’s life, while his family appealed to the police to not fail Yameen in death, after having failed him in life.

The international community has condemned the cruel attack of violence against Yameen, and have called on the government to immediately investigate the killing and hold those responsible to account.