Prominent Iranian human rights lawyer released after seven year detention
Prominent Iranian human rights lawyer released after seven year detention
Abdolfattah Soltani spent more than seven years behind bars in Iran.
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Soltani has been jailed several times by authorities [Getty]
A prominent Iranian lawyer was released from jail on Wednesday, after spending more than seven years in detention.
Abdolfattah Soltani was granted conditional release after serving more than half of a 10-year term, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday, and comes after a parole hearing in July was denied.
Soltan's lawyer Saeed Dehghan said that he was released on Wednesday, although his family are yet to confirm the news.
"The authorities agreed yesterday to my client's conditional parole and he was released today," Dehghan said, according to IRNA.
Soltani was jailed on 2011 on charges of "spreading propaganda against the system" and "setting up an illegal opposition group".
He founded the now-banned Defenders of Human Rights Centre alongside Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi and others.
Iran regularly jails human rights activists, lawyers and others who are critical of the regime.
He has been designated a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty Interntional.
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