(Baghdad) A freelance journalist imprisoned in northern Iraq for writing about homosexuality has been pardoned and released, an international media watchdog group said Thursday.

Hussein was convicted of violating “public custom,” also known as public decency, by writing an article about sodomy in April 2007 in the independent weekly Hawlati. He was sentenced Nov. 24 to six months in prison and ordered to pay a $106 fine.

“We are relieved that President Barzani intervened to right this injustice,” CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney said in a written statement.

Hussein was serving his sentence at Mahata prison in Irbil, about 220 miles (350 kilometers) north of Baghdad. He was among 121 people pardoned by the president in advance of the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha, according to Barzani’s Web site. The holiday is one of Islam’s most important ones.

Hussein’s attorney, Luqman Malazadah, said the sentence handed down by the Kurdish court was based on an outdated 1969 Iraqi penal code.

A new law that took effect in October does not recognize a violation of “public custom,” CPJ said.

“We call on the authorities to ensure that the new legislation is enforced and that Adel Hussein is the last journalist to be sent to prison in Iraqi Kurdistan because of his work,” Mahoney said.