Indonesian authorities released four Maldivians, including a leading member of Makthaba Salafiyyah Mohamed Hassan, from detention.
Maldives Police Service stated that Indonesian authorities informed them concerning the arrest of four men aged 46, 39, 36 and 34 years old.
According to the police, the individuals departed from Maldives on Thursday and transited in Malaysia before arriving in Indonesia. The men returned to Maldives on Saturday following their release.
It is unknown at present why the men were detained.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs previously stated that Makthaba Salafiyyah was an unregistered organisation operating in Maldives.
In December 2019, the ministry revealed that Makthaba Salafiyyah was running unregistered schools in three regions of Maldives and that efforts were underway to shut them down.
The ministry further disclosed that some parents refused to enroll their children in Maldives' official education system and only sent them to these unregistered schools as per instructions by Mohamed Hassan.
Following allegations that he promoted extremist ideologies, the ministry revoked Mohamed Hassan's license to provide religious sermons.
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