Ghoncheh Ghavami, a 25-year-old law graduate from London's School Of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) went to a men's Iran-Italy volleyball match. Two and a half months later, she's still in prison for breaking the law, and has just completed a 12-day hunger strike after being thrown in solitary. Today she faced the courts, and will hear her verdict in a week's time.
While the law in Iran forbids females and males to watch sporting matches together, the judiciary have denied that this is the reason she has been imprisoned for over 100 days - instead, they are citing the crime as 'propaganda against the regime.' Ghoncheh also spent 41 days in Tehran's infamous Evin Prison, known for past controversies involving the rape and torture of its inmates, before going on hunger strike. Amnesty International heard reports that Ghoncheh was told she 'wasn't going to leave the prison alive'.
'We heard that she was essentially told she wasn't going to be leaving the prison,' a spokesperson told The Debrief. 'We don't know the exact charges she's facing today, as news percolates out of Iran fairly slowly sometimes, but we're working on getting updates as soon as possible.'
In terms of the protests, it's slow but sure progress. The petition on Change.org has received over 600,000 signatures at last count and the figures are growing.
'There are no magic solutions, and these petitions are of course not legally binding, but we've had lots of interest and it's strength in numbers,' says Nadia Gilani from Change.org, who are hosting the petition. 'The more people sign, the more governments can see how serious it is. Her brother went out to New York and was turned away. He wanted to get time with the president but, while that didn't work out, numbers started soaring.'
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Since then, Iman has gone to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office who said that, while they were 'aware of reports', they had limited power in Iran. Last Friday, students at SOAS staged a 12-hour hunger strike in solidarity, and the President of Iran is being met with protestors heckling his public appearances and holding up posters of Ghoncheh's face. On top of that, she hasn't eaten for nearly two weeks.
'The lawyer told me that, after 12 days, Ghoncheh has finally agreed to break her hunger strike, but said she will wait to take her first bite when she is with our parents. My mother talked to her on the phone today,' her brother Iman, who set up the petition and is lobbying for her release told supporters yesterday. 'Ghoncheh sounded frail and weak but she is determined to defend her innocence tomorrow.'
Why choose to go on hunger strike? 'It's a high-risk strategy, but it's not actually that rare,' Amnesty told The Debrief. 'Around the world, people go on hunger strike quite regularly, but the key thing is picking up media coverage, because it can really galvanise the campaign. With Guantanemo, for example, because there was a mass hunger strike and the numbers were going up week after week, it seems the pressure did work. President Obama began to take notice and there was a commitment to sort it out.'
Imam, and Ghoncheh, hoped the same would happen with her own hunger strike and lobbying, but we won't know the verdict until next week. Pressure from the UK and support on social media via the #FreeGhoncheh hashtag hasn't lost momentum. The law graduate presumed it would be okay for her to watch the volleyball championships – she doesn't deserve to be behind bars.
'From a human rights perspective, people shouldn't be held in solitary confinement. It does lead to mental illness, eventually, and it just shouldn't be happening,' said Amnesty. Iman added: 'I'm a distressed brother who is fighting to bring her sister home. My sister is a law student in University of London [sic]. She should not have been arrested in the first place and does not deserve to be in solitary. Will you help bring her home?'
Sign the petition here, and we'll be bringing you more updates as and when they happen.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.