Libya frees political prisoners

TRIPOLI, Libya, March 2 (UPI) -- Libya has released 130 political prisoners, including 85 members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, from a Tripoli prison, reports say.

The Brotherhood detainees were freed under an amnesty from the government, the BBC said.

Human rights groups had been calling for their release for years after they were arrested in the 1990s for supporting a political party.

The Brotherhood members were five months into a supreme court appeal against their guilty verdicts when the amnesty came.

Most of them were professionals and students when they were tried by the People's Court, which was abolished last year.