Aiminath Eesa, mother of abducted journalist Ahmed Rilwan, has said that the most sorrowful ordeal for her since the disappearance has been the brutal murder of blogger Yameen Rasheed – who was ‘like a son’ to her.
Easa, who on Thursday counts 1,000 days since her son had been abducted while on his way home on the night of August 8th in 2014, said that the lack of justice for her loss has been something that her ‘heart simply cannot accept’.
Nevertheless, Easa said – in a statement to mark this day – that both she and her family are even now patiently waiting for when she may receive some form of clarity as to what Rilwan’s fate has been.
She further said her patience had been put to the harshest of tests when she heard about the death of Yameen Rasheed, who had been her son’s closest friend.
Easa said that her family had gone to every institution in the country seeking justice for her son to no avail and expresses concern that Yameen’s family maybe facing similar circumstances.
The family’s statement further said that Rilwan had been watched and trailed before he was abducted, and that his fate is not just a matter that concerns one family, but one that affects every Maldivian family.
In 2016, the police cited DNA evidence found in a car, which had been transported to Hulhumalé to state that he had been abducted – two years after the disappearance and the Maldives Democracy Network’s commission independent inquiry.
The MDN’s inquiry implicates several street gangs for the crime, reportedly motivated by religious fundamentalism.
The police had searched the car after witnesses living in apartments near Rilwan’s reported having seen to individuals struggling with each other – with one being clearly forced into a ‘red car’.
The car belongs to a member of a local gang, of which other members had been caught on CCTV footage actively providing surveillance on Rilwan and even following him on their motorocyles.
There have not been significant findings in the case since April of last year and in August, members of Rilwan's family were subject to pepper-spray from police officers trying to disband a gathering held to mark the anniversary of the disappearance.
