Syrian authorities on Monday released from jail a prominent free-speech campaigner held for 3-1/2 years, his wife and organization said.
Mazen Darwish was arrested in February, 2012, nearly one year into the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
"We are not saying he is free. There is still a trial," his wife, Yara Badr, told Reuters, adding that he must appear in court at the end of August.
Darwish, 41, is founder of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression. He was held under anti-terrorism laws on charges of spreading propaganda for terrorist acts. International human rights groups have voiced deep concern about his trial and alleged mistreatment.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in February described the case of Darwish and two other members of his organization detained at the same time as emblematic of the plight of activists, lawyers and human rights defenders targeted by government forces and militias without due process.
During the first nine months of their detention, they were unaccounted for. The other two activists - Hani al-Zaitani and Hussein Ghrer - were released last month, activists said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry called for the release of Darwish and his colleagues in a statement marking the third anniversary of his detention.
He described him as one of tens of thousands of Syrian activists and political prisoners whose support for human rights and non-violent calls for change "were met by regime brutality".