2 Nigeria Newsmen Freed From Prison

Two Nigerian journalists imprisoned in July by the military government under a controversial press decree were released Sunday, Lagos radio reported.

The two, Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor of the independent Guardian newspaper, have served a total of almost 11 months, including time spent awaiting trial. They are the only journalists thus far sent to prison under a law barring publication of “false statements likely to bring the government or officials into ridicule or disrepute.”

The charges stemmed from three articles published about a year ago on the reorganization of Nigeria’s diplomatic service, a politically sensitive issue here, in which they attributed their information directly to specific sources rather than using vague but safer information.