Zimbabwean opposition politician Job Sikhala is to be released after more than a year-and-a-half in prison after a Harare court handed him a suspended sentence. An outspoken and popular government critic, Sikhala, 51, was one of the most prominent figures to be arrested in recent years in what rights groups have described as a crackdown on dissent in the southern African country. "He is now a free man," says lawyer Harrison Nkomo outside court in Harare, where supporters of Sikhala gathered. "This is the only case that has been keeping him in custody. So, he is going to come out." IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES