Woman gets one year in prison for watching volleyball

Photo: Ideraldo Gomes / Flickr

Photo: Ideraldo Gomez/Flickr

04.11.2014

By Play the Game
Ghoncheh Ghavami, the British-Iranian woman, who was jailed in June this year for attending a men’s volleyball match in Iran, has been sentenced to one year in prison.

In June, the female law student Ghavami, participated in a peaceful protest against an Iranian ban on women attending sports matches. After the match, she was captured and kept in custody. Yesterday it was revealed that she has been sentenced to one year in jail, reports insidethegames.com

At the recent Congress of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), president Ary Graça deplored the imprisonment of Ghavami and repeated what he has earlier stated in a letter to the Iranian president: That Ghavami should be released.

"We never normally seek to interfere with the laws of any country. But in accordance with the Olympic Charter, the FIVB is committed to inclusivity and the right of women to participate in sport on an equal basis,” Graça said to the Congress delegates, writes insidethegames.com.

The announcement of the sentence coincides with the Asian Volleyball Confereration awarding Teheran with the hosting of the 2015 Asian Men's Volleyball Championships. The FIVB has also welcomed Iran as a possible bid country of the 2018 World Volleyball Championships.

An international petition for Ghavami’s release was launched by her brother and has already been signed by more than 710.000. Find and sign the petition here: http://www.change.org/p/david-cameron-hassanrouhani-bring-my-sister-home-freeghonchehghavami

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