British-Iranian woman jailed over volleyball game sees charges dropped

Hardline judiciary changes course over Ghoncheh Ghavami, who was arrested after trying to attend a men’s match in Iran

The Guardian, Saeed Kamali Dehghan, Thursday 2 April 2015

Ghoncheh Ghavami, a young Iranian-British woman who was initially detained
while trying to attend a men’s volleyball game in Tehran. Photograph: AP

An appeals court in Tehran has dismissed charges against an Iranian-British woman who was jailed for trying to attend a men’s volleyball game, meaning that she will not have to return to prison.

Ghoncheh Ghavami, a 26-year-old law graduate of Soas, University of London, was released on a £20,000 bail in November after spending five months in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. She was arrested in June for taking part in a protest against a ban on female fans entering stadiums alongside men and subsequently sentenced to a year in prison.

“She is free,” her brother, Iman Ghavami, told the Guardian. “The court of appeal has waived the remaining seven months of her sentence and she will not have to go back to jail. We’re extremely glad for this outcome.”

Despite this, Ghavami is still subject to a travel ban, according to her family.

Last summer, Ghavami stood outside Tehran’s Azadi stadium wearing a white scarf and holding up a placard. Along with a number of other women’s rights activists, she was demanding to be allowed to watch Iran’s volleyball team play against Italy. The Islamic republic has a longstanding ban on women attending big sporting events alongside male fans.

She was taken into custody that day and released several hours later but in late June, when she went to collect her mobile phone, which had been confiscated after the protest, the authorities re-arrested her.

While in jail, Ghavami went on a hunger strike, refusing food and water, for several days in protest at her detention and the judicial uncertainty surrounding her case. Campaigners including her brother, Iman, and mother, Susan Moshtaghian, highlighted her ordeal and pleaded with the authorities for her release. Amnesty International also described her as a prisoner of conscience, arrested solely for participating in a peaceful protest.

Ghavami’s detention was an embarrassment for President Hassan Rouhani and his moderate administration, which has taken a softer stance on social freedoms. Rouhani supports the principle of women being allowed to watch games in stadiums, but says that a change of policy is not at his discretion.

Iran’s judiciary, which is dominated by conservatives, operates independently of the government under the country’s constitution, meaning that the president’s hands are tied.

Although it is not clear what prompted the judiciary to change its course over the Ghavami case, many campaigners point to a high-profile objection by the international volleyball federation, which said it would not allow Iran to host international events while women were barred from stadiums.

The federation will “not give Iran the right to host any future FIVB directly controlled events such as world championships, especially under-age, until the ban on women attending volleyball matches is lifted,” a spokesman was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying in November.

Ghavami’s case was complicated by the fact that she holds dual Iranian and British citizenship. Iran does not recognise dual citizenship and treats all those with a second nationality solely as Iranian, denying them access to consular assistance.

Iran’s intelligence authorities hold deep suspicions of dual citizens and have arrested a number of them in recent years on security charges, including the Washington Post’s Iranian-American reporter in Tehran, Jason Rezaian, and Amir Hekmati, an Iranian-American former US marine. Both men remain in jail.

Other Iranian women have also campaigned for female fans to be allowed to watch matches in stadiums. In June 2011, Maryam Majd, an Iranian photographer, was held by officials before boarding a flight from Iran after participating in such a campaign.

The UK foreign office said on Thursday: “We welcome the news that Ghoncheh Ghavami has been pardoned by the court of appeal in Iran, although we are concerned that she is still subject to a travel ban. We are following the case closely and remain in touch with her family.”

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