A Dutch couple kidnapped in Yemen in June have been released, the foreign affairs ministry confirmed on Tuesday.

Journalist Judith Spiegel and her partner Boudewijn Berendsen were taken from their house in the capital Sana’a, probably in the second week of June.

In July, their kidnappers released a video of them in which they said they were ‘very, very frightened’. Since then there has been no news about them.

Spiegel works for various Dutch publications and, according to the Guardian, also teaches at the Lebanese university in Sana’a. Berendsen works for the insurance sector.

Free

Spiegel announced the release on her Facebook page, saying ‘yes, yes, yes, we are free’. She went on to say that the couple will always love Yemen, ‘apart from a couple of arseholes’.

In a statement, foreign minister Frans Timmermans said he is ‘extremely pleased and relieved’ they have been released.

The couple are expected to be back in the Netherlands on Wednesday, Nos television said.