Bahrain is to allow more than 100 prisoners to serve the remainder of their sentences out of prison, as protesters and rights groups voiced fears over Covid-19 spreading in jails, AFP reports.
A total of 126 prisoners will serve the remainder of their sentences in an “alternative” or non-custodial setting, the public prosecution said in a statement.
The released convicts will be monitored electronically.
Officials said last week three people at the Jaw prison were infected with the virus. It said they had been isolated and were in a stable condition.
But the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy says there have been dozens of infections among prisoners.
“If Bahrain’s government is serious about tackling this outbreak, they should be fully transparent rather than undermining the seriousness of the situation at hand,” Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of BIRD, said in a statement last week.
Nabeel Rajab, one of Bahrain’s most prominent rights activists who was freed from jail last year, welcomed the government’s decision.
“May it be a good omen,” he tweeted.