YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — A New York literature professor held in the Central African nation of Cameroon since early this month after writing an article that criticized the government was released Wednesday, his lawyer said.

Stony Brook University Professor Patrice Nganang was expelled from Cameroon and has been told not to return to the country where he was born, lawyer Emmanuel Simh said.

Nganang, 37, who has dual citizenship in Cameroon and the United States, had faced a Jan. 19 hearing after being detained Dec. 7. The court in Yaounde early Wednesday announced he would be let go and that al...