The Indonesian scholar who was the ideological and spiritual leader of the Bali bombers is being granted early release from prison for what have been described as humanitarian reasons.

Eighty-year-old Abu Bakar Bashir was jailed for 15 years for links to the 2002 nightclub bombings, in which more than 200 people were killed.

Bashir's lawyer said the 80-year-old was the oldest prisoner in Indonesia and suffered from illness, but the release has not been without controversy.

Al Jazeera's Alexi O'Brien reports.