Iranian woman sentenced to one year jail term for attending volleyball game
Ghoncheh Ghavami's lawyer said the judge did not show him his client's sentence and no reason was given for the conviction.
By JPOST.COM STAFFMembers of Iran's men's volleyball team during the gold medal match against Japan.(photo credit: REUTERS)
The British-Iranian woman, 25-year-old Ghoncheh Ghavami, who was arrested in Tehran after trying to attend a male volleyball match, has been sentenced to one year in jail, her lawyer was reported as saying Sunday, AFP reported. Ghavami was arrested for breaching Iran's ban on female spectators at sporting events."According to the verdict she was sentenced to one year," her lawyer Alizadeh Tabatabaie was quoted in Iranian media as saying, adding that the judge had not shown him his client's sentence. In addition, no reason was given for the conviction, AFP reported. The "Free Ghoncheh Ghavami" Facebook page which advocated for her release appeared to confirm the one year sentence on Sunday, but protested the closed-doors legal process that has prevailed in the case, according to AFP. Ghavami was arrested in Tehran on June 20 at Azadi ("Freedom" in Farsi) Stadium where Iran's national volleyball team was to face off against Italy.She went on hunger strike last month after nearly three months in prison following 100 days of solitary isolation in Iran's Evin prison, notorious for its political prisoners' wing British media reported.Ghavami was born in London and later moved to Iran. More than half a million people endorsed a petition demanding the release of Ghavami.
