Iran says woman sentenced to stoning given 'leave' from prison

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning, looks on during a meeting with her son Sajjad Ghaderzadeh at a provincial welfare organisation in Tabriz, 633 km (396 miles) northwest of Tehran, January 1, 2011. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl

DUBAI (Reuters) - An Iranian woman sentenced to die by stoning for adultery and later given a 10-year jail term instead has been allowed to leave prison, the judiciary said, in a new twist to a case that has triggered years of criticism of Iran's rights record.

A judiciary spokesman told Reuters that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani had been given "a leave" from prison several weeks ago for good behaviour. He said, without elaborating, that the decision was a sign of "our religion's leniency towards women".