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ABIDJAN, May 7, 2009 (AFP) - A French journalist jailed in Ivory Coast in 2008 for "plotting against the authority of the state" was released on bail on Wednesday.
A visibly relieved Jean-Paul Ney left Abidjan's main jail accompanied by French consul Alain Ferre and one of his co-defendants, Modest Sery.
"I'm on a cloud," he told journalists, adding he was hoping to return to France soon.
Ney's lawyer said the bail agreement did not place any restrictions on Ney leaving Ivory Coast.
The freelance photo-journalist was jailed in January 2008 in Abidjan along with another French national and eight west Africans after being charged with an "attack" and "plotting against the authority of the state."
He was arrested by a police patrol in December 2007 in front of the headquarters of the national RTI radio and television network.
Ney on Wednesday said he had no links whatsoever to any coup plot, and that the case against him had been manipulated.
His release followed a meeting on Tuesday between France's Secretary of State for Cooperation Alain Joyandet with Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo.
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