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Woman jailed in Iran for attending volleyball match begins hunger strike Woman jailed in Iran for attending volleyball match on ‘dry’ hunger strike
(about 11 hours later)
A British-Iranian woman jailed in Iran after trying to watch a volleyball match is on a hunger strike, refusing food or liquids, her brother has said. Ghoncheh Ghavami, the British-Iranian woman sentenced to one year in prison in Iran for trying to attend a volleyball game, has gone on a “dry” hunger strike, meaning she is refusing food and water.
Ghoncheh Ghavami, a 25-year-old law graduate from London, is protesting because the judge has yet to confirm her one-year prison sentence, Iman Ghavami said. Her brother, Iman Ghavami, said she is protesting because the judge has yet to confirm her sentence.
“She’s been on hunger strike from Saturday,” he said. “She’s not eating any solid foods and she’s not drinking any liquids.” “My family is quite devastated,” he said. “She is not eating any kind of food or drinking any liquids.”
Ghavami said his sister’s lawyer had seen the court document sentencing her to one year in jail, but that a deadline to make the verdict formal had passed. Ghavami, 25, previously went on a hunger strike in early October to mark 100 days since she was imprisoned, but accepted fluids.
“The case is in limbo … I don’t understand why they don’t want to issue the verdict when they have made the decision,” he said. “It’s quite concerning for us. They have no legal basis to have her detained.” Iman Ghavami said his sister’s lawyer had seen the court document sentencing her to a year in jail, but a deadline to make the verdict formal had passed.
Ghavami was arrested on 20 June after attempting to attend a men’s volleyball match between Iran and Italy in Tehran’s Azadi stadium. “The case is in limbo … I don’t understand why they don’t want to issue the verdict when they have made the decision,” he said. “It’s quite concerning for us. They have no legal basis to have her detained.”
Female fans and journalists were told they could not attend, leading to a brief protest. Ghavami was initially released after a few hours, but was rearrested days later at a police station, when she went to reclaim items that had been confiscated. Ghavami was arrested in June after trying to enter Tehran’s Azadi stadium along with male fans. Iran has a longstanding ban on women attending big sporting events with men.
Women are banned from attending volleyball and football matches in Iran, which officials say protects them from lewd behaviour. She participated in a small protest in front of the stadium, wearing a white scarf and holding up a placard. Ghavami was initially released after a few hours, but was rearrested days later at a police station when she went to reclaim items that had been confiscated.
No reason was given for her sentencing, but Ghavami was accused of spreading anti-regime propaganda, a broad charge often used by the Iranian judiciary. It emerged at the weekend that Ghavami has been convicted on a charge of “spreading propaganda against the ruling system” and sentenced to a one-year jail term. The Iranian judiciary has denied that her detention has anything to do with sport but has shed little, if any, light on why she remains in custody.
Officials have said that Ghavami was arrested for security reasons unrelated to the sporting event. Amnesty International, which has described Ghavami as “a prisoner of conscience, arrested solely for taking part in a peaceful protest”, said on Tuesday: “It is deeply concerning that Ghoncheh Ghavami has found no other way to protest against the gross injustice of her predicament but by risking her health in embarking on another hunger strike.”
Ghavami previously went on hunger strike for two weeks before her sentencing, when she was detained for months before going on trial behind closed doors. Faraz Sanei, of Human Rights Watch, said the case illustrated many of the flaws of Iran’s justice system. “The case against Ghavami exposes the spectacular failings of a revolutionary court system that regularly deprives the accused of a fair trial, brazenly flouts its own rules, and appears to punish detainees and their families by indulging in seemingly never-ending fishing expeditions to find ‘proof’ of guilt,” he said. “It’s well past time for the judiciary to put an end to this charade by immediately setting aside any judgments against Ghavami, dropping any and all outstanding charges, and allowing her to rejoin her family as a free woman.”
Her case has drawn international condemnation and was described by Amnesty International as “appalling”. According to her brother, Ghavami was due to make a phone call to the family on Monday, which did not take place. “We are hoping to hear from her, to see how she is doing, especially now that she’s on a dry hunger strike,” he said.
The British Foreign Office has raised concerns about the court’s ruling as well as “grounds for this prosecution, due process during the trial and Miss Ghavami’s treatment while in custody”. More than 700,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Iranian authorities to release Ghavami.
Ghavami’s family have said that at least 41 days of her detention before trial were spent in solitary confinement.
The case comes as Iran is under pressure for its human rights record after the easing of its international isolation with the election of moderate Hassan Rouhani as president.
Questioned over increasing executions and detentions under his rule, Rouhani has said the judiciary is independent of his government.