Islamabad, Pakistan ? Authorities released 130 women facing trial for murder and adultery from jails in eastern Pakistan, days after President Gen. Pervez Musharraf amended a law to give them the right to be freed on bail, officials said Tuesday.

Seventy women were freed on bail late Monday and early Tuesday from jails in various cities in the eastern Punjab province, provincial prisons chief Sarfaraz Mufti said.

Another 60 women were freed later Tuesday, taking the number of women released on bail in the province to 130, said Saeed Niwani, minister for jails in Punjab.

The women are facing charges including murder, attempted murder, theft and adultery under the Hudood Ordinance, he said.

Mufti did not have details on how long the freed women had been in jail.

Musharraf on Friday amended the controversial Hudood Ordinance, allowing women awaiting trial on charges of adultery and other crimes to qualify for bail – a right previously denied.