Maldives high court on Wednesday freed opposition aligned Jumhoory Party leader Gasim Ibrahim after the appellate court ruled that the business magnate was arrested in violence of due procedure.
Gasim who was taken into custody on Thursday was immediately freed following the ruling.
Police had arrested the Maamigili lawmaker over allegations of attempting to bribe government MPs ahead of a censure vote against parliament speaker Abdulla Maseeh.
His legal team however had appealed his arrest saying that the now opposition JP leader had been detained in violation of his parliament privileges and immunity.
According to parliament rules of procedure, unless from a scene of crime, a lawmaker can only be arrested under a warrant from a superior court on direct request from the chief prosecutor.
Gasim’s release comes hours after the prosecutors filed formal charges against him on three separate counts of attempted bribery and undue influence of a state official.
