News Digest

British-Iranian woman sentenced to one year for watching volleyball match

A British-Iranian woman who was arrested in Tehran after trying to attend a volleyball match has been sentenced to one year in jail, her lawyer was reported as saying Sunday. Ghoncheh Ghavami, a 25-year-old law graduate from London, who was detained in June at a Tehran stadium where Iran’s national volleyball team was to play Italy, went on trial last month. “According to the verdict she was sentenced to one year,” her lawyer Alizadeh Tabatabaie was quoted in Iranian media as saying, noting that the judge had shown him the sentence.

It is not clear to her family and lawyer as to what the current legal basis of her detention is. A fair and just legal process according to Iran’s legal framework is the basic right of every Iranian citizen.

Post on the “Free Ghoncheh Ghavami” Facebook page

The “Free Ghoncheh Ghavami” Facebook page, where her friends and family campaigned for her release, features photographs of her against the slogan: “Jailed for wanting to watch a volleyball match.” An update on the page on Sunday appeared to corroborate the one-year sentence but bemoaned the closed-door legal process that has prevailed in the case. Women are also banned from attending football matches in Iran, with officials saying this is to protect them from lewd behaviour among male fans.