British-Iranian Ghoncheh Ghavami freed on bail pending sentence appeal

A British-Iranian woman  jailed months ago in Tehran after trying to attend a men’s volleyball match has been released on bail pending an appeal of a court verdict, her family said.

The case of Ghoncheh Ghavami, a law graduate from London, has been surrounded by confusion since her lawyer said earlier this month that she had been sentenced to a year in prison for committing propaganda against the Iranian regime.

That reported jail term has been denied by judicial authorities, but in a fresh twist Ghavami’s mother Susan Moshtaghian said a judge had agreed to free her daughter on bail of 1 billion Iranian rials (HK$289,000).

“Right now, my daughter is freed until the Court of Appeal issues the final verdict,” Moshtaghian told the ISNA news agency, and also appeared to confirm the initial prison sentence.

Saying that the one-year jail term and an additional two-year restriction on leaving Iran had been communicated to her, Moshtaghian added: “My daughter merely defended herself in the preliminary court and insisted on herself being innocent.”
Ghavami was detained outside Azadi Stadium in the capital on June 20, having gone there to watch a volleyball match.

She was refused entry as women are not allowed to watch male athletes in the Islamic republic.