Shirin Ebadi’s sister has been released after 17 days in detention. Dr. Nooshin Ebadi, sister of Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi, who was arrested by security authorities on 28 December without being charged, was released on Wednesday night.

In an interview with Deutsche Welle, Shirin Ebadi said that, “my sister was not a detainee, but a hostage”. Prior to Nooshin Ebadi’s arrest, the Ministry of Information officers had summoned her several times and had asked her to sever her relations with her sister and to move from her home, which is in the same residential complex as Shirin Ebadi’s.

Authorities had also threatened her that if she continues her relations with her sister, they would arrange for her dismissal from her university job. In addition to her sister, Shirin Ebadi’s husband and brother have also been targets of harassment and abuse by security forces. In one episode, security officers summoned her husband and asked him to give them telephone numbers of their children who live in Europe. This request was faced with outrage and refusal by the Ebadi family. Nooshin Ebadi has been released while the fates of 150 others detained during the post-Ashura events remain unknown.