Maldives Correctional Service (MCS) has been forced reinstate the privileges granted to jailed lawmaker Ahmed Mahloof, days after revoking them.

On March 29, MCS decided to revoke the privileges granted to the MP for Galolhu-South constituency -including phone calls, family meetings and conjugal visits- for one month, citing he had talked in manner that posed threats to national security, violating rules and regulations for inmates.

The decision was made following an audio of the parliamentarian, made public via social media, calling for parliamentarians to vote in favor of the no-confidence motion against parliament speaker Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed on March 26, a day prior to the vote.

Mahloof submitted the decision at the MCS appeal board, and the board decided that the measures cannot be taken against the parliamentarian, as he was not informed of the rules and regulations, including that making such an audio public is prohibited. Hence, the board decided that MCS has to take responsibility, reinstating all his privileges.

When contacted by RaajjeMV for a comment, media official at MCS said that “he will now get all the privileges,” but did not reveal further on the matter.

Mahloof’s family and legal team have been expressing concern over the fact that his lawyer has not been able to meet with his client for over two months.

In 2016, Mahloof was sentenced to a total of 10 months and 24 days in prison, on two separate obstruction charges. While he has already served the six-month sentence, he is currently serving the four month and 24-day sentence, and is expected to be released in June.

While Mahloof is an independent MP, he had been working with the opposition prior to his sentencing, and was also the spokesperson of the opposition alliance, Maldives United Opposition (MUO). The largest opposition party in the country, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has filed Mahloof's case in Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU).

IPU has expressed concern about the 'severity of the sentence', adding that it 'fails to understand the justification for his conviction and sentence', It further called on authorities to 'address his appeal swiftly and with full respect for fair-trial standards', adding that it will be sending an observer to follow the appeal proceedings. IPU further called on authorities to allow Mahloof to serve his sentence under house arrest,