Abdullah Yameen, the former president of the Maldives, has been transferred to house arrest.  He was serving a five-year sentence in a money laundering case. 

Authorities in the Maldives confirmed that Yameen was transferred to house arrest for his safety, as some officers at the prison complex he was kept in were testing positive for COVID-19, said Rajje TV. 

Former President Yameen is the jailed leader of the Maldives' current political opposition, comprised of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the People's National Congress (PNC). The coalition recently swept the local elections in the capital city of Male. 

He is believed to be at high risk of complications due to the COVID-19. He was recently administered the Pfizer vaccine in jail. 

Yameen was convicted of money-laundering charges on 28th November 2019, for misappropriating US dollars through the state-owned Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) via a private company Scores of Flair, during his presidency.

Yameen was sentenced to five years in prison and fined USD five million to be paid within six months. However, opposition leaders in the archipelago claim his conviction a ‘political vendetta.’ They have been demanding his release for a long time.