Four journalists who had been held by the Libyan authorities in Tripoli for several weeks were released yesterday, and are now heading to Tunisia from where they will depart to their respective home countries, news reports said.

Manu Varela, a Spanish photographer who works under the name Manu Brabo, U.S. journalists Clare Gillis and James Foley, and British journalist Nigel Chandler were freed on 18 May following a trial, where it was determined that they had entered the country illegally, reports said.

“We are thrilled that these journalists are being released, but at the same time, we cannot forget the others who remain in the custody of the Libyan authorities,” said IPI Director Alison Bethel McKenzie. “They should be freed immediately.”

Varela, Gillis and Foley were taken into custody on 5 April, the same day that Anton Hammerl, an Austrian-South African photographer went missing. The Libyan authorities have said that they do not know where Hammerl is, according to reports. Al-Jazeera reporter Kamel Al-Tallou, who was originally arrested along with three other colleagues from the network, has been in Libyan detention since 19 March. Many others remain in custody as well, according to news reports and reports from press freedom advocacy groups.

IPI again calls on the Libyan government to locate these journalists and release them immediately.