A court in the Maldives has sentenced the country's chief justice to nearly five months in prison on charges of obstructing justice and government administration.

The criminal court on Tuesday sentenced Abdulla Saeed to four months and 24 days for blocking the Supreme Court from receiving letters from the administration.

Saeed was arrested in February during a political crisis that followed a Supreme Court order that some of President Yameen Abdul Gayoom's political opponents be released from jail and retried because of alleged due process violations in their earlier trials.

Saeed also faces separate charges of terrorism which carry a longer maximum term.

Maldives, known for its luxury island resorts, embraced multiparty democracy in 2008. It has lost most of its democratic gains since Yameen was elected in 2013.