COLOMBO, May 23 (Reuters) - Britain has granted refugee status to Mohamed Nasheed, the former president of the Maldives who was jailed in 2015 after a trial that drew international criticism, his lawyer said on Monday.

Nasheed, the Maldives' first democratically elected president, was allowed to go to Britain in January for medical treatment after President Abdulla Yameen came under international pressure to let him leave.