Iranian security forces have released leading human rights advocate Nasrin Sotoudeh, who was detained after leading a protest against what she called unfair legal practices in the Islamic Republic, she said on Sunday.
The lawyer and activist was picked up along with several friends on Saturday on their way back from a sit-in outside Tehran's Bar Association in Tehran. They were freed after a brief background check, leaving only Sotoudeh in custody.
"I was held for seven hours and then set free," she told Reuters by telephone from Tehran.
There were two men from the intelligence ministry, meeting me separately. I told them I wouldn't answer any question because they had no court order."
The 51-year-old Sotoudeh came to prominence after her arrest in 2010 during a government crackdown on protests against ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed reelection. Found guilty on charges of conspiracy against state security, she was sentenced to six years in prison and a three-year ban on practising law.