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Hassan Ali, whose passport was impounded by the previous government in the Rilwan case, has been given a senior position by this government. Sun File Photo/Fayyaz Moosa

Ex-immigration chief accused in Rilwan's disappearance appointed deputy minister

Two intelligence officers had approached Hassan Ali to produce a passport to show that Rilwan had gone abroad and died in a war.

11 January 2024

Hasan Ali, then Immigration Controller who is alleged to have prepared a fake document to show that the missing journalist Ahmed Rilwan had left the country in 2014, has been given a key position in the current government.

According to the President's Office website, Hassan Ali has been appointed Deputy Minister of Homeland Security and Technology.

Of the 21 ministries in the President’s government, this ministry, with the largest jurisdiction, already has 15 deputy ministers.

Hassan Ali has been appointed as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry, who had worked most recently as a High Court judge.

Hassan Ali was appointed a judge of the court in March 2018 during the government of former President Abdullah Yameen, but he resigned from the post after the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) began investigating allegations against him in the Rilwan case. In July 2020, he resigned from the post, not responding to the JSC’s case against him.

According to the presidential commission set by the previous government to investigate unsolved murders and disappearances:

  • Two intelligence officers had approached Hassan Ali to produce a passport to show that Rilwan had gone abroad and died in a war

  • When asked to do so, Hassan Ali said that such a thing could not be done unless formally requested in writing; in response, the two men said they could not bring official documents

  • Upon this, Hassan Ali said that if they wanted to, they could make something with Rilwan's original passport

The commission confirmed these facts from the statement given by Hassan Ali to the police at the time of the investigation.

At the same time, his passport was then impounded.

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