An Iranian court has reportedly sentenced a 25-year-old British Iranian woman to a year in prison for trying to watch a men’s volleyball match.
Ghoncheh Ghavami was found guilty of spreading anti-regime propaganda, her lawyer, Alizadeh Tabatabaie said. Iran banned women from volleyball games in 2012 and argued that the step was aimed at protecting women from the lewd behavior of male fans, reported the BBC.
Meanwhile, Britain’s foreign office expressed its concern over the grounds of the prosecution, the due process during the trial and Ghavami’s treatment in custody. The 25-year-old Briton and a graduate of the University of London'’s School of African and Oriental Studies was part of a group of women who tried to watch Iran play Italy in a match on June 20.
The women were arrested and allegedly beaten before being freed. Ghavami was then arrested again later and subsequently put on trial. She launched a hunger strike in October after being held in isolation cells.
