CNN News, From Christine Theodorou, March 8, 2011
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| Haitham Maleh (pictured in 2005) was detained in October 2009 during a government crackdown on lawyers and activists. |
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Haitham Maleh has been jailed for more than a year
- His son said his father "was on his way home"
- The release comes as the president issues pardons
(CNN) -- A prominent Syrian human rights lawyer has been released from prison, his son told CNN Tuesday.
Haitham Maleh -- arrested in October 2009 during a government crackdown on lawyers and activists -- has been freed.
"I just talked to him on (the) phone and he was on his way home," Iyas Maleh said, confirming the release.
The release came as Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on Monday issued pardons for prisoners, including some who are elderly and ill.
It is not clear whether the 80-year-old Maleh was freed under the president's decree.
Maleh, who has also served as a judge, had been targeted for his human rights work for decades, according to a website devoted to his work.
He has been jailed before and placed under a travel ban by Syria, where opponents allege massive human rights abuses by the authoritarian government there.
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A military court sentenced Maleh in July to a three-year prison term for "spreading false news that could weaken the national morale."
The detention has been sternly criticized by Amnesty International and countries such as the United States, Britain and France.
As protests erupted in the Arab world in recent weeks, the Syrian government pulled back from a plan to withdraw some subsidies that keep the cost of living down in the country.
Al-Assad also gave a rare interview to Western media, telling The Wall Street Journal in January that he planned reforms that would allow local elections and included a new media law and more power for private organizations.
CNN's Joe Sterling contributed to this report
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