Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb has said parliament members are being targeted and at the risk of being attacked.
While debating the bill on birth and death registration, MP Ilyas said it is important to ensure that the right to live is fulfilled when debating such a bill. He recalled the murder of former Ungoofaaur MP Dr. Afrashim Ali, and missing Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan, and voiced concern that the perpetrators behind the attacks remain free. He also noted that the Speaker of the Parliament, Mohamed Nasheed, who was recently targeted in an IED attack and currently in the United Kingdom, was reluctant to return to the Maldives following the attack.
Ilyas said while the people who funded the attack on Nasheed remain unknown, there is no information on how many similar cells operate in the Maldives, which in turn fails to ensure anyone's right to live. While Nasheed's safety cannot be assured, it is also questionable whether other members of the parliament are safe, said Ilyas, noting that several members of the parliament including the Deputy Speaker continue to face threats and are being shadowed. He further said as long as those planning and carrying out such attacks are able to freely exist within society, there is no peace for the Maldivian people.
A few days before the attack on Nasheed, MP Ilyas had warned Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi that Nasheed was being targeted for a terrorist attack. However, the police said there was no relation between the information provided by the MP and the May 6 attack against Nasheed.
Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb
