Corrections relaxes rules for Yameen’s house arrest

Maldives Correctional Service has relaxed the terms of former Maldivian president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s home confinement.

Yameen, the leader of the opposition PPM-PNC coalition, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for money laundering and bribery charges in connection to the sale of V. Aarah on December 26, 2022.

He was transferred from his cell in Maafushi Prison to his home in Male’ City on October 1 – a day after PPM-PNC’s presidential candidate Dr. Mohamed Muizzu won the Maldivian presidential election.

A spokesperson from Maldives Correctional Service told Sun on Saturday night that Yameen is now allowed to leave his home for medical care related purposes with prior permission from the service.

On the day he was transferred home, Maldives Correctional Service said the move was “temporary” and that the former president remained an inmate, and will be treated as such.

The move came within hours after the Maldivian President-elect Dr. Mohamed Muizzu – who beat President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in the presidential election runoff on September 30 – asked the caretaker president to use his executive powers to transfer Yameen to home confinement.

He made the appeal in a press conference after it became clear he had won the election.

He said the move was in the “best interests of the country.”

Yameen’s conviction is being appealed at the High Court.