As part of reforms by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on the rehabilitation of offenders, and in accordance with the procedures of the government led by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to promote and protect rights, 30 newly eligible inmates have been released from prison to serve alternative sentences.
The substitution of sentences of imprisonment with alternative sentences followed a judicial process which reviewed the individual, social and economic circumstances of each case, following formal referral by the Verdicts Implementation Directorate of the Interior Ministry.
These 30 cases were each considered carefully by the relevant judge, and all have had sentences of imprisonment replaced with various types of alternative penalties appropriate to the individual circumstances of each inmate and their case.
The Verdicts Implementation Directorate highlighted that the decree-law has extended those inmates eligible, under provisions first endorsed in 2017, for alternative sentencing, an important tool in the rehabilitation of inmates and their reintegration into society. To date, the number of offenders who have been released since 2017 to serve alternative sentences is 3,541 inmates, which includes the 30 newly eligible inmates recently released from prison to serve alternative sentences.
The Decree-Law 24/2021, issued by HM the King on penalties and alternative measures states:
“The relevant authority at the Interior Ministry may request the executive judge to substitute the original penalty by one or more of the alternative penalties set forth in Article 2 of this Law, provided that it would not pose a threat to public security, and that the convicted person must have paid all the financial liabilities handed down against them by a criminal court, unless it is impossible for them to pay.”
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