Parents of slain blogger Yameen Rasheed has pleaded the government to seek the assistance of foreign experts in the investigation into their son's gruesome murder.
Yameen’s parents Hussein Rasheed and Mariyam Shifa, on Tuesday issued a statement, revealing that they have requested from President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom for involvement of foreign investigators into the case of Yameen’s murder and that the President had vowed for a comprehensive investigation by using all the resources at their disposal in finding the perpetrators behind his murder.
The police, on Monday, had also issued a statement for the public stating that they will investigate anyone who speculates about the murder of Yameen on social media in ways that may obstruct their investigation and further added that any information which could be of help to the investigation must be disclosed to the police.
The gruesome murder of Yameen Rasheed had left the entire nation - especially active social media users, who Yameen was a close ally to, shaken by the news. The public has now come together and started a petition to get justice for blogger Yameen. The petition, which is to be submitted to president, has over 300 signatures already.
According to a family member of Yameen, he was stabbed over 16 times in the neck, chest and also his face.
Yameen had been very vocal about receiving death threats for publishing his strong views on politics and religious extremism through his political-satire blog ‘The Daily Panic’. He had even claimed on social media that he reported these threats to the police, but that it fell on deaf ears. However, the police claim that they did investigate the threats and gave regular updates to Yameen.
In spite of the police failing to give immunity to Yameen, parents of the blogger remain hopeful in getting justice for the murder.
The police confirmed that the attack on Yameen, who is a native of the southernmost Atoll Addu’s Feydhoo was premeditated, though the motive remains unclear. The police’s serious and organised crime unit is currently investigating the matter.
No arrests relating to the murder have been made yet.
