DDCom to reveal masterminds behind Afrasheem’s murder ‘within weeks’

Chair of Deaths and Disappearances Commission, Husnu Al Suood says the commission will be reveal the people who carried out the 2012 murder of lawmaker and Islamic scholar Dr. Afrasheem Ali within the upcoming weeks.

Suood said the DDCom will reveal not just the people who carried out the brutal murder, but also the masterminds behind the murder as well as additional findings regarding the case.

His remark comes after Dr. Afrasheem’s family expressed lack of hope in ever receiving justice.

“Confident that @DdcomMdv will reveal the details of this horrific crime within weeks, including the details of the perpetrators and those who planned it,” tweeted Suood this Wednesday.

Dr. Afrasheem, who had been serving as the parliamentary representative for Ungoofaaru constituency, was found stabbed to death at the stairwell of his residence in the early hours of October 2, 2012.

He was found with multiple stab wounds to his head and other parts of his body.

This Wednesday marks 7 years to the brutal murder.

Justice for Dr. Afrasheem, as well as other victims of brutal murders had been one of the current administration’s chief electoral pledges.

DDCom had previously announced that its investigation had uncovered the masterminds behind Dr. Afrasheem’s murder, and expressed confidence in delivering justice to the politician’s surviving family members. And President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had recently announced that he had received a detailed investigative report on the murder from DDCom.

Hussain Humam Ahmed is currently on death row for the murder. He lost his last bid to appeal the death penalty with the Supreme Court on 2016, following which his family petitioned the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) alleging Humam had been denied the rights to a fair trial as set forth on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The UNHRC instructed the Maldivian administration to halt his execution pending the outcome of a review into the case in 2016.

Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, in March 2019, shared documents from UNHRC dated March 13, 2019 which established that Humam had been denied his rights under ICCPR and denied the right to a fair trial.

President @ibusolih pledged to “speed up cases before HRC & UNWGAD”. Now he must live up to his word & speed up implementing HRC ruling. pic.twitter.com/X2mBLHa589

— Ahmed Shaheed (@ahmedshaheed) March 15, 2019

It called for an immediate halt to Humam’s execution, his immediate release and retrial, and compensation payment.

It also stressed that the Maldivian administration may not impose the death penalty on an individual with serious psycho-social and intellectual disabilities, or execute any individual with a diminished ability to understand the reason for their sentence.

Humam’s family has condemned the Maldivian administration’s non-responsiveness to the UNHRC ruling.