Maldives Police Service (MPS) have confirmed 25 people arrested from Friday's opposition protests staged by supporters of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the People's National Congress (PNC) have now been released.

Police revealed that those arrested had been found in clear violation of health and safety guidelines as issued by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) to control the spread of Covid-19, in addition to failing to protest in a peaceful manner.

Those arrested from Friday's protests include PNC leader and leader of the opposition coalition Abdul Raheem Abdulla.

The opposition PPM-PNC coalition have been conducting a series of protests across the nation's capital over various demands. Police have been obstructing the protests, as they go against health and safety guidelines issued by the HPA in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, at a time gatherings of more than five people are presently banned across the Male' area. The Elections Commission (EC) has also previously issued instructions to political parties to strictly follow HPA regulations at a time the number of new Covid-19 cases being reported in the capital city have been concerningly high.

39 opposition supporters arrested from last week's protest had refused to provide samples for Covid-19 testing, despite having come into direct contact with police officers and other members of the public during the heated confrontations.

The Maldives is presently experiencing a devastating third wave of the global pandemic, with over 2,500 active cases across the country at present. The number of hospitalizations from the infection also increased, and a total of 64 deaths have been attributed to Covid-19 in Maldives thus far.