GENEVA: The return to prison of former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed is a setback for human rights in the country, the UN said on Tuesday, calling on the island nation’s government to consider his early release. Just a month after Nasheed’s 13-year prison sentence was commuted to house arrest, he was taken back to jail on Sunday night, as police used force and pepper spray on the ex-president’s supporters gathered outside his home, the UN rights office (OHCHR) said. “The return of Mr Nasheed to prison constitutes a serious setback to the human rights situation as well as to moves towards finding a political solution in the Maldives,” OHCHR spokesman Rupert Colville said. The OHCHR “has urged the government to consider former President Nasheed’s early release,” Colville added. Nasheed, who was elected president in 2008 and served until he was toppled in 2012, was sentenced in March after a conviction under anti-terror laws.