Zimpapers Logo

A British-Iranian woman who was arrested in Tehran as she headed to watch a volleyball match has been sentenced to one year in jail, her lawyer was reported as saying by the local media.

Ghoncheh Ghavami, a 25-year-old law graduate from London went on trial last month. She was detained in June at a Tehran stadium where Iran’s national volleyball team was to play Italy.

“According to the verdict she was sentenced to one year,” her lawyer Alizadeh Tabatabaie was quoted in Iranian media as saying, noting that the judge had shown him the sentence on Sunday.

But no reason was given for the conviction.

Iranian officials have said that Ghavami was detained for security reasons unrelated to the volleyball match. So far she has been held in the capital’s notorious Evin Prison for 126 days. – AFP