Malé, Maldives, Nov 30: Former Maldives president Abdulla Yameen was released from house arrest Tuesday after winning an appeal on his money laundering conviction.

The former strongman ruled the Indian Ocean archipelago — best known for opulent beachside resorts and their frequent celebrity guests — until his shock election loss in 2018.

He was convicted a year later for illegally holding millions of dollars in his bank accounts that had allegedly been stolen from a tourism development agency.

But the Supreme Court freed the 62-year-old after finding the earlier trial had not established a proven link between the agency and the money in Yameen’s accounts, a court official said.

Yameen was originally sentenced to five years’ prison but was released on medical grounds in April and kept under house arrest.

During its five years in power, Yameen’s government regularly jailed opponents or forced them into exile.

Current leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won an unexpected landslide victory on a pledge to end corruption, and dissidents have since returned to the country.