Big Picture Necessary for Justice: President

The investigation into journalist Rilwan Abdulla’s disappearance and blogger Yameen Rasheed’s murder is taking so long because work is being done to understand the “bigger picture”, said President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

In an email interview given to “The Hindu” newspaper, President Solih said that the bigger picture should be clearly understood for justice to be served. He said that he understood the distress caused to the bereaved families because of the delay.

He said that he wanted to take steps to prevent future crimes of this nature from ever occuring again, and he mentioned that he had sought aid of a “foreign consultant” for his Presidential Commission. President Solih said that he was maintaining a close relationship with the bereaved families, and he was giving them regular updates about the case.

The Presidential Commission created by President Solih to investigate the murder of Yameen Rasheed and the suspected kidnapping of Rilwan Abdullah published a report about their findings.

No arrests have been made based on the findings of the report. The only suspects who have been detained were arrested after the initial investigation conducted under President Yameen Abdul Gayyoom’s administration. The current ruling party had claimed that the suspects in custody had been “framed”.