Dr. Afrasheem Ali, a religious scholar and a member of parliament in the Progressive Party of the Maldives, was murdered in October 2012. His liberal stances on various questions related to religious practice and doctrine proved controversial in the Maldives, where it is legally impossible not to be a Muslim. Though he never spoke against Islam, many of his views were lax enough that some extremists considered them blasphemous, and he had been verbally and physically attacked in the past.

The previous Islamist-connected government of the Maldives had denied that Afrasheem was killed for religious reasons, instead positing that the motivation was entirely political.

Afrasheem was found dead in his residence’s stairwell with multiple stab wounds in the back of his head, in his neck, and in his chest. Some time after the murder, the government undertook a sweeping investigation, eventually finding that the attack had been planned out by a terrorist organization affiliated with al-Qaeda who believed Afrasheem to be guilty of blasphemy. The same organization was also involved in the abduction and murder of journalist Ahmed Rilwan—and, similar to that case, the religious motive in this murder was only uncovered recently, after the election of a new government.

The previous Islamist-connected government of the Maldives, which was in power before a newly-elected government opened the investigation, had denied that Afrasheem was killed for religious reasons, instead positing that the motivation was entirely political.