The Maldives Correctional Services has on Thursday released a statement clarifying that their transfer of Jumhooree Party leader Qasim Ibrahim’s to house arrest is only temporary.

This was a follow up statement to reports that Qasim had been transferred to house arrest while being hospitalized and undergoing treatment for a cardiovascular ailment.

 The Correctional Services said that this transfer of custody was made on the grounds of his ill health.

The decision refers Article 75 of the Prisons Act, which provides that inmates suffering from diseases, conditions, or are handicapped must be given special care and ease during their incarceration.

Ahmed Sameer, secretary-general of the Jumhooree Party, said that given how Qasim had never been incarcerated due to him having been hospitalized during the sentencing and since, he was always allowed to have one relative with him before. Since the Correctional Services’ decision, Qasim has been allowed to have several.

Qasim’s medical condition requires further diagnosis and potentially urgent surgery, according to his doctors. They have also said that any delay in treatment could pose risks to his life. 

Qasim was sentenced to three years, two months, and 12 days in prison over the bribery allegations made against him under Section 510 of the Penal Code – on 'bribery and official misconduct' – claiming that he had attempted to influence the authority of a public official.

He was sentenced in absentia.