Sheikh Imran transferred home

Adhaalath Party leader Sheikh Imran Abdulla was transferred from prison to house arrest Tuesday evening.

He will be taken back once repair and maintenance work is complete on his jail cell, the Maldives Correctional Service spokesman told the media.

Imran, who was convicted of terrorism over a speech he gave at the 2015 May Day anti-government protest, was previously transferred to house arrest in September after his wife gave birth to a son.

He was abruptly taken back a month later.

The Islamist party leader was also released to house arrest for Ramadan last year and taken back after Eid. He remained in the high-security Maafushi prison during this year’s fasting month.

In July last year, Imran was taken to a unit designated for inmates convicted of murder and other serious crimes, reportedly as a punishment for giving an interview to Raajje TV in violation of the terms of his house arrest. He was previously kept in a different unit with other jailed politicians.

Imran’s widely condemned conviction marked the first terrorism sentence passed in the Maldives over a speech made at a political gathering.