DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A prominent activist in Bahrain who has been imprisoned for months while facing a trial over a series of tweets has been freed on bail.

Jalila Sayed, the defense lawyer for Nabeel Rajab, told The Associated Press that the activist was released after a long court hearing Wednesday.

Sayed says Rajab will appear again in court Jan. 23 in the case.

Rajab, initially arrested in June over the tweets, separately faces investigations for letters published by The New York Times and the French newspaper Le Monde during his incarceration.

Rajab helped lead protests during Bahrain's 2011 demonstrations as the island's majority Shiite population and others demanded more political freedoms from its Sunni rulers.

Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet and an under-construction British naval base.