Lapiro de Mbanga released from prison

"I have two news for you," Lapiro announced over the phone this Friday afternoon. "A good one and a bad one. Which one do you want to hear?" He was speaking to one of the directors of Freemuse: The World Forum on Music and Censorship, which for the last three years has been campaigning against his arbitrary detention and false imprisonment.

"The bad one is that I will not released tomorrow. The good news is that I’m already out of prison now," he said, followed by a big laugh.

Last year, the Impossible Music Sessions hosted a "cell phone concert" at which Lapiro dialed in from his cell at New Bell Prison and a surrogate act played his banned song on a Brooklyn stage.

"We celebrate with Lapiro and his family," commented Marie Korpe, Freemuse Executive Director. "But we will continue to observe closely what happens to Lapiro de Mbanga. We know that he may still face security problems and we hope that we will be able to retain his career as soon as possible"

In a rare sponsorship opportunity, Vigier Guitars contributed the $1000 get-out-of-jail fee imposed on Lapiro by the court. The singer still owes a preposterous $600,000 for damages caused by a mob of disaffected citizens. The government's rationale for holding him criminally liable? They were singing his song at the time.

Courtesy of Freemuse, here's a snapshot of Lapiro reunited with his wife Louisette.