Khartoum, Sudan ? American journalist Paul Salopek was released Saturday from a prison in the Darfur region, where he was held for more than a month on espionage charges.

A judge in the North Darfur capital of el-Fasher released the Chicago Tribune journalist and his Chadian driver and interpreter after a 13-minute hearing.

Salopek was on assignment for National Geographic magazine when he was arrested last month and accused of passing information illegally, writing “false news” and entering the African country without a visa. His trial was set to begin today.