A British Iranian woman, arrested along with more than a dozen women as they tried to enter a stadium, has been in an Iranian prison for more than two months for trying to watch a men’s volleyball match. Ghoncheh Ghavami, 25, tried to watch the Iranian national men’s team playing against Italy on 20 June.
She was released from custody but when she went back to collect her belongings days later, she was arrested a second time and transferred to Tehran’s notorious Evin jail, which is known for holding political prisoners and journalists, Independent reported.
Miss Ghavami’s brother, 28-year-old Iman Ghavami, said she rang her family in tears saying she had been put in solitary confinement for 41 days. “[The family] can barely hold themselves together,” he told ITV News.
“They are torn apart – not just my parents but my grandparents, my uncles, everybody.”
Miss Ghavami has dual Iranian and British nationality.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was “aware of reports” of her imprisonment and was looking into them.