Bahrain set to free more political prisoners: activists

MANAMA: Bahrain´s interior ministry on Monday announced sentencing changes for hundreds of inmates in the Gulf monarchy, which activists have said should result in the release of scores of political prisoners.

Authorities gave the green light for “replacement of custodial sentences with an alternative sentence,” for 340 inmates, the ministry said, with 99 further prisoners allowed more lenient arrangements in custody under Bahrain´s “open prison programme”.

The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) said under the changes “340 inmates of Jau Prison will have their prison sentences replaced... meaning that they will be released,” referring to a prison in the south of the island nation.