Former President of Maldives، Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) has spoken about the disappearance of Miniwan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan and the ties of Islamic State with government authorities in Maldives.
Nasheed addressed the viewers in foreign Socio-Political program named “The Maldives Exodus Caravan Show”. The video which is 6 minutes in duration، shows the former President speaking his opinion regarding the current situation of Maldives.
He starts of the speech with the emphasis on Maldives lacking its freedom of expression and freedom of press under the Gayoom regime during the 80s and 90s، with his arrests during the same tenure in which he practiced journalism. He stated his arrests came as a result of him expressing his own belief through journalism which was held wrong as per then government.
Nasheed spoke about the disappearance of Ahmed Rilwan and that it has been 43 days and counting since the disappearance and so far authorities have not provided with any decent progress regarding the investigation. “The police seems to be utterly unable to fathom what is going on. and at the same time it is also difficult to believe that the Maldives police is incapable of finding anything about the missing journalist.” said the former President.
“The police is neglecting the investigation intentionally” he said regarding the rise of Radical Islamic elements and their ties to the millitary as well as the disappearance of Rilwan.
With regards to Rilwan’s disappearance، Nasheed also claims that disappearance of Artists and Writers are a common intimidation practice in various Authoritative regimes throughout the world but this is first for Maldives. He also noted that gang violence is also on the rise and 3 were stabbed during the current month as well.
But as per ex-President Nasheed، the most “alarming” situation the Maldives is facing is the rise of radical Islamic extremists as well as open supporters and aides of the Islamic State (IS) who is active in Syria، Iraq and other middle-eastern nations. He claimed an estimation of 200 Maldivian citizens are actively taking part in the said Jihad across international waters alongside IS. Apart from this، Nasheed accused Maldives Police and Militia are in cahoots with the foreign terrorist organization and they frequent Intel sharing between them.
After the accusations، he mentioned Rilwan was threatened on various occasions by radical extremists in Maldives who also happen to have a hit-list of people they intend on eliminating one by one. With this he emphasized on the religious beliefs of Maldives from a historical point of view، stating “we have a very moderate form of Islam that’s been flourishing in these islands for many many years. And the radical form is certainly at odds with the general populist with the very many Maldivians.”
As a conclusion to his speech، Nasheed appealed the viewers to assist the nation in retrieving Rilwan and also in the Nations’ fight for freedom of expression.
The video was uploaded to the video sharing social media platform Vimeo 17 hours ago under the user ID “Silent Barn”. The show، titled Maldives Exodus Caravan Show is a based in Serra dei Giardini at the 55th Venice Biennale، hosted by the Museum of Everything Collateral Event.