Bahrain Mirror: Legal counsel Ibrahim Sarhan said the amendments to the Alternative Penal Code limited the identification of the lists of beneficiaries from this law to the Interior Minister's son. 

Sarhan said through his Twitter account "Due to the many questions I am receiving about applying for punishment replacement more than a year ago, I say and repeat the same answer,  there is no legal way for the prisoner, his lawyer or his guardian to apply for punishment replacement."  

"It only exists during the trial of misdemeanors, not crimes," he said.

He explained "By law, it has become in the hands of the Ministry of Interior and through the son of Interior Minister Khalid bin Rashid Al Khalifa, director of the General Directorate of Verdicts Implementation and Alternative Penalties. He is the one who chooses the lists and puts them on hold until a high authority orders their implementation."

Many prisoners and their families complain that it is not possible to apply for punishment replacement, and that all amendments to the law have deprived them of this right.

Arabic Version