Dubai, Jun 9 (AP) Iranian authorities have summoned and arrested a cartoonist who has a history of being imprisoned for political posts on her Instagram account, her lawyer said on Friday.

Mohammad Moghimi said in a tweet said his client, Atena Farghadani, a painter, cartoonist and former political prisoner, was summoned to the Evin courthouse in Tehran and arrested. He did not elaborate on why she was detained.

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In 2016, Farghadani was released after spending 18 months in jail for portraying lawmakers as animals to criticize a draft law restricting contraception and criminalising voluntary sterilisation.

On Wednesday, Farghadani posted one of her cartoons showing people with animal and satanic faces.

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The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday that Iranian authorities must release Farghadani and stop efforts to silence commentators and members of the press.

“This cycling of journalists and commentators through prison is a continuation of authorities' long-standing revolving door policy and a hallmark of Iran's failure to respect the rule of law,” said Sherif Mansour, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)