Commonwealth nations on Saturday welcomed back the Maldives 40 months after it angrily quit the organisation over criticism of its human rights record under strongman president Abdulla Yameen.

An abducted Maldivian journalist was murdered by militants, a panel investigating deaths and disappearances under the previous government said

The exiled former leader of the Maldives has led his party to a landslide victory only five months after returning to the country, preliminary results showed Sunday.

The Maldives on Saturday held its first parliamentary election since former strongman leader Abdulla Yameen was forced to stand down, with his arch-rival expected to make a big comeback in the vote.

Maldives authorities on Monday detained former strongman president Abdulla Yameen after he was accused of trying to bribe witnesses in his money laundering trial, officials said.

Prosectors in the Maldives on Sunday charged a top aide of former strongman leader Abdulla Yameen with embezzling millions of dollars from the tropical tourist paradise.

Former Maldives president Abdulla Yameen is under investigation for corruption, police said Sunday, after a court ordered accounts holding $6.5 million to be frozen.

Maldives strongman President Abdulla Yameen's party Wednesday filed a legal petition challenging his landslide election defeat last month despite major international pressure for him to step down.

The outgoing strongman president of the Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, faced allegations Tuesday that he received nearly $1.5 million in illicit payments just before his surprise election defeat last month.

The jailed former Maldives president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was released on bail Sunday, a week after the country's longest serving leader's estranged half-brother was trounced at a presidential election.

Outgoing Maldivian strongman Abdulla Yameen is delaying freeing high-profile political prisoners despite calls by his successor for their release, the opposition said Wednesday.

Maldives President Abdulla Yameen Monday conceded defeat in elections and said he would arrange a smooth transition for president-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.