Libyan teenagers who had been jailed after admitting to using false documents to leave Malta have been granted bail pending an appeal against their six-month prison sentence, Malta Today reported Friday.

It said the boys, aged 16 and 17, had filed a request for bail pending their appeal against a six-month prison sentence which they had been handed earlier this month, upon their admission of guilt to charges of using two fake ID cards to leave Malta.

In a decision handed down Friday, Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera observed that the European Court of Human Rights had established that the gravity of the alleged offences committed by a person accused alone is not sufficient reason to justify long periods of detention under arrest.

The teenagers are not allowed to change residence address and they will be under surveillance, in addition to a curfew that includes not leaving Malta under any circumstances.