Woman goes on hunger strike in notorious Iran prison – Explosion at nuclear complex in Iran kills 2
Published October 07, 2014
UK citizen Ghoncheh Ghavami was visiting family and working for a charity organization in Iran when she was arrested and imprisoned for attempting to attend a men-only volleyball match last June.(Change.org)
A British-Iranian woman held in Irans notorious Evin Prison for 100 days after she tried to attend a men's volleyball game has gone on a hunger strike.
Law student Ghoncheh Ghavami, 25, was visiting family and working for a charity organization in Iran when she was arrested for attempting to attend a men-only volleyball match last June, then imprisoned for three months before being charged with propaganda against the regime.
She had attempted to enter Azadi Stadium in Tehran with a dozen other women to see the Iran mens volleyball team play Italy. Ghavamis brother, Iman, has said that the charges against his sister are ambiguous.
Government of Iran & the UK government, reads the petition posted on Change.org by Iman. "Please allow my sister to come home. She should not have been arrested for going to a volleyball match.
A law that prevents women from entering sports venues was enacted in 2012, when it was deemed that mixed crowds were "un-Islamic" because the male athletes are not considered fully dressed.
I'm a distressed brother who is fighting to bring his sister home, Iman said on the petition. My sister is a law student in University of London. She should not have been arrested in the first place and does not deserve to be in solitary.
The brother added that his sister thought she would be allowed to attend the volleyball matches because of the fact that Iran was warned about the ban by the International Federation of Volleyball.
Ghavami was originally released after being questioned for four hours when she tried to enter the stadium. The women with her were released as well. She was arrested again days later, however, when she tried to collect her belongings from a police station and her dual citizenship was discovered.
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Woman goes on hunger strike in notorious Iran prison - Explosion at nuclear complex in Iran kills 2