A President-Elected Special Envoy to Overlook Terror Attack Investigations on Speaker of Parliament Earlier This Month

A directive by the President was issued yesterday announcing the election of British national, Abbas Faiz as the Special Envoy to the Government of the Maldives in regards to the ongoing investigation of the May 6 terror attack on the Former President and Speaker of the Parliament, Mohamed Nasheed.  

In his post, Mr. Faiz is mandated by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to monitor the investigation, prosecution, and trial of the terrorist attack and ensure that international best practice and national laws are complied with throughout all stages of the process. He has over three decades of experience in monitoring the human rights situation in South Asia, including previous work in the Maldives. 

Mr. Faiz has remained a close monitor of the human rights situation in the Maldives, having published several articles on human rights, the Maldives a focal point of some, in The Guardian, New Statesman, the Lancet, and in several South Asian newspapers. His capacities also expand to being a Lecturer in Law in the Schools of Law, Essex University, UK, for the past three years. Moreover, his most recent posting was as the most senior advisor to the Secretary-General on the countries in his brief at Amnesty International. 

The Prosecutor General will set the parameters of Mr. Faiz’s oversight of the ongoing investigation. The appointment was a necessary decision by President Solih to ensure public confidence in the integrity of these processes. During the scope of his work as the Special Envoy, Mr. Faiz will be stationed at the President’s Office where all support and administrative assistance will be provided for the process.