Maldives Police Service (MPS) has rejected the 811 letters submitted by family and well-wishers of murdered writer Yameen Rasheed, calling for a speedy and transparent investigation into the murder.

The team, led by Yameen’s father Hussain Rasheed submitted 811 letters at around 11:30 am on Tuesday. The family was informed that the letters had been rejected at around 2:30 pm, asking Rasheed to collect the letters.

Speaking to the press after collecting the letters, Rasheed said that the police had told him that it would be difficult to respond to so many letters sent in behalf of one individual, and that letters can only be submitted to the institution by the person in question, or through a different medium which is accepted by the police.

He was further told that this is the first time that so many letters had been submitted to the institution, and that they had tried to find a way to accept the letters by consulting with senior officers.

“I told them that if they only responded to the letter submitted by the family, that the rest will accept that too. That all the letters had the same message. However, they did not accept a single letter”, said Hussain Rasheed.

Rasheed further said that they have yet to make a decision on whether to re-submit the letter, adding that he has asked for an appointment with Ahmed Areef, the commissioner of police.

One of the most prominent bloggers in the country; Yameen Rasheed was stabbed to death in the early hours on April 23. Two days later, on April 25, deputy police commissioner Abdulla Nawaz revealed that they had identified those responsible for the attacks, even releasing screen captures of the suspects, possibly taken from CCTV footage, from both inside and outside Maafannu Spatula, Yameen’s residence, where he was attacked.

However, on April 30, police refuted their previous claim, saying that they have not been able to identify the attackers as they “had been wearing disguises”.

On May 1, 25-year-old Mohamed Dhifran, native to Gaafu Dhaalu Gaddhoo, was arrested in relation to Yameen’s murder, and given a 15-day remand.

Yameen’s family have also appealed to enlist experienced international investigators in the investigation into their son’s death, especially as MPS had failed to protect his life, despite him reporting the multiple death threats sent to him.