Monday, February 2, 2009

Lawyer: Iran detains women's rights activist

TEHRAN, Iran -- A lawyer for an Iranian activist says police detained the woman while she was campaigning for equal marriage rights for women.
The lawyer says Nafiseh Azad was detained Friday while collecting signatures for a two-year-old campaign pushing for equal rights for women in marriage, divorce and inheritance.
Attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh said Sunday that collecting signatures is not illegal. Over the past three years, however, Iranian authorities have detained many women seeking equal rights.
In Iran, women need a male guardian's permission to marry. Only men have the right to seek divorce, and men inherit twice what women do from their parents.
Calls to authorities seeking comment on the detention were not returned late Sunday.
The News & Observer