My younger brother, Yameen Rasheed, the writer, was killed shortly before dawn on Sunday, 23 April 2017. He was one of three siblings in a very close-knit family. His brilliance set him apart from a young age – he completed his GCE O Levels before turning 15. I used to look forward to reading his essays during his school days; his writing was remarkable even then. We always noticed that he did things differently compared to other school children. I remember one instance in middle school when we had to state a proverb and explain it; Yameen, unlike other students, explained the proverb through an elaborate story.
Yameen published informative blog posts on the 'Daily Panic' and 'Slicker Than Your Average'. He had built a steady following on Twitter from people of all ages for sharing his thoughts. His writing centred around political, social and economic issues, including his views on religious extremism. He also questioned the targeting of young bloggers. The distinctively humorous and sarcastic tone of his work appealed to many in the Maldives.
However, Yameen also attracted hateful and violent rhetoric from religious hardliners and extremists. After he was labelled 'anti-Islamic' by such critics, he received death threats for over a year. He told me that he suspected his movements were being closely monitored from mid-2010. He knew this because he was shown a leaked case file on him and others maintained by the Maldives' military intelligence. Yameen received direct death threats after reporting on a rally calling for more religious tolerance and freedom on international Human Rights Day in December 2011. Some Twitter users openly threatened him. Other threats were sent directly to his inbox on Facebook Messenger. He reported these threats to the police on two occasions when former President Abdulla Yameen was in power. The police did not ensure his safety, which resulted in his murder.
Under the previous government's regime, there were numerous hurdles to overcome in the investigation into his killing. A glaring flaw of the initial investigation was that those who bankrolled and ordered the murder were not exposed. However, we should also focus on what we could achieve under the previous government because the appetite for seeking justice for my brother has faded over time, especially with the fanfare following the 2018 presidential elections.