Yameen Rasheed’s parents ask for international investigators in murder probe

Outspoken blogger Yameen Rasheed’s parents have called on the Maldives government to include international investigators in the police inquiry into their son’s murder.

Yameen, 29, was found with multiple stab wounds in the stairway of his apartment building on Sunday morning, and died soon after he was taken to the hospital.

In a statement on Monday, Yameen’s parents said: “While, naturally, we welcome President Abdulla Yameen’s promise to deploy ‘all state resources’ to bring the perpetrators to justice, we strongly believe that the police investigation will only be deemed credible if it includes investigators from reputable international organisations.”

The authorities must move fast, they said, expressing concern over the police’s failure to make arrests despite 48 hours having passed since his death.

“The police failed to protect our son when he was alive,” Yameen’s parents said, alleging that the police had failed to investigate death threats made against Yameen.

“Having failed our son in life, we appeal to the police not to fail him in death.”

Yameen’s murder has been widely condemned.

President Abdulla Yameen said the government will not “stand idly by while such acts of hatred are forced upon our citizens.”

Home Minister Ahmed Azleen vowed to bring the killers to justice in an interview with Sun Online. “Even if it is by seeking international assistance, by the grace of god, we will find Yameen’s killers,” he said.

A police spokesman told Mihaaru that the police had worked on the complaints of death threats Yameen had filed. Some suspects had been questioned, he said, but declined to comment if arrests had been made.

“The police were updating Yameen on the work that was being done,” he said.

Yameen’s parents meanwhile highlighted police failure to bring to justice the people who abducted Yameen’s friend, Maldives Independent journalist Ahmed Rilwan, and those who were involved in the murder of parliamentarian Dr Afrasheem Ali.

“This impunity leads to more killing,” they said, vowing to fight for justice for Yameen for as long as it takes.