Somalia's Supreme Court has released a journalist jailed for interviewing a woman who was allegedly raped by government security forces.
Abdiaziz Abdinur and the woman were sentenced to one year in prison on charges of insulting the country's honor and making false accusations in an attempt to make money. But on March 3 his sentence was cut in half, while the woman was released.
Abdinur told VOA's Somali service Sunday said he was glad to be released adding that the case would not deter him from resuming his work.
The 27-year-old woman said she was raped by government soldiers while living in a displaced person's camp in the capital, Mogadishu.
The case sparked an international outcry from groups such as Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists, who said the case was politically motivated.
In other news, Somali Islamists have recaptured the key southern town of Hudur after Ethiopian troops who were based there pulled out of the district.
Reports from the area say hundreds of al-Shabab fighters entered it early Sunday morning retaking it peacefully.
Hudur is the regional capital of Somalia's Bakool region.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP.