President: Rilwan is deceased, it’s the sad truth

President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has commented that there is no doubt the missing journalist Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla is deceased.

The comment came after former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Gafoor issued a statement this Tuesday accusing Yameen of stopping a Cabinet-level inquiry into Rilwan’s disappearance.

Speaking during a function held at G. Dh. Madaveli this Tuesday, Yameen condemned the statement, and said it was an “outright lie”.

“What I want to say is that it’s sad the press carries such outright lies by convicted criminals,” said Yameen.

He said that people need to be responsible on every level, and that it was “a matter of someone’s death”.

He said cases like Rilwan’s disappearance was of deep concern to the government, but that no inquiry was held at Cabinet-level regarding the case.

“This investigation was conducted by the police from the very beginning. The police are conducting the investigation even now. We need to look into the death of Afrasheem. We need to look into Rilwan’s death. And we need to look into the deaths of others,” said Yameen.

Yameen said that it wasn’t in the Cabinet’s mandate to investigate Rilwan’s case, and that the Cabinet only established a committee to investigate “Ahmed Adeeb’s attempt to detonate a bomb on President Yameen’s speedboat.”

“The police and military incorporated our investigation into their own. So doesn’t Adeeb have to answer to the question as to why even now? And not just the President. He attempted to detonate the bomb on the speedboat with everyone who went on the Hajj pilgrimage that time and our family members who went to receive us. The press is considering something said by such a person as a news item,” said Yameen.

He said it wasn’t in the Cabinet’s mandate to investigate deaths, but the police’s.