Prominent Iranian Human Rights Lawyer Briefly Detained

By RFE/RL's Radio Farda

December 10, 2014

Prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was briefly detained and later released by authorities.

Reza Khandan, Sotoudeh's husband, wrote on his Facebook page that she was detained on December 10 by police, who stopped their vehicle in Tehran.

Only an hour later, Khandan posted an update saying Sotoudeh had been released.

Khandan, who was also detained but then released prior to Sotoudeh, demanded that authorities explain the reason for her detention, which he called "illegal."

Sotoudeh, who won the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov rights prize in 2012, was released from jail last year halfway through a six-year sentence for "actions against national security" and spreading "propaganda against the regime".

In September, a Tehran court banned her from practicing law for three years.

With reporting by  AFP