Biography released chronicling life and disappearance of Rilwan

A biography has been released chronicling the life of Maldives Independent journalist Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla, cut short at just 28 years with his abduction and presumed murder in 2014.

The biography, titled “Enforced Disappearance of an Innocent Maldivian Son”, was released this Saturday, and coincides with the six-year anniversary to his disappearance.

The book was released through findmoyameehaa.com, a website dedicated to Rilwan, and is available for free download.

The book covers Rilwan’s childhood, his academic life, and his career as a journalist. It also covers how Rilwan fell victim to religion extremism, and how he later began questioning the extremist ideologies and distanced himself from the movement.

It also covers the circumstances of Rilwan’s disappearance and the desperate search to find him, with interviews from his family and friends.

The book was written by Shahinda Ismail.

Rilwan went missing on August 8, 2014. He was last seen boarding a ferry to suburban Hulhumale’ wearing a black shirt and pants and carrying a backpack. He was 28 years at the time.

Justice for Rilwan had been one of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s key electoral pledges, and a presidential commission he established, Disappearances and Deaths Commission (DDCom) investigated the case.

DDCom’s findings show Rilwan was forced into a car and abducted on his way to his apartment in Hulhumale’, forced on a boat registered to A. A. Ukulhas, and killed and thrown overboard.

DDCom links the case with a group of Maldivian extremists affiliated with Islamic State.

The case remains under investigation six years on, and has yet to produce any convictions.