After the Tehran Prosecutor accused Ghoncheh Qavami of links to opposition forces, claiming the charges against her have no bearing on her attempt to enter a Tehran volleyball stadium to watch a game, Qavami’s mother announced that her daughter has no connection to opposition forces and all of her interrogations were focused on her presence at the stadium.
After the Tehran Prosecutor announced on Tuesday that his office is charging Qavami with having links to the opposition, Sousan Moshtaghian told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran: “Ghoncheh has no connection with the opposition. She was arrested in the course of watching a volleyball game, and all the interrogations were focused on this issue.”
She added that after 50 days, the investigator of her case called Qavami’s parents to ask them to reveal the names of the other organizers of the volleyball campaign.
Qavami was arrested in July when she was trying to get into a stadium with a group of women to watch a volleyball game. While the entire group was soon released, Qavami was rearrested shortly after and has now been in jail for five months.
The charge linking Qavami to opposition and “seditious” forces comes after five months. The Prosecutor’s office states that its investigation has revealed that Qavam is involved in propaganda against the regime, is linked to opposition forces against the regime and has participated in anti-regime demonstrations.
They have also accused Qavami of collaboration with Persian BBC and having a previous arrest in her file.
Qavami’s mother says her daughter was only arrested once for a hijab (Islamic dress code) issue and was released after a few hours. In terms of connection with the BBC, her mother indicates that when Qavami was a student, she wrote a one-time guest blog on Persian BBC about the effect of international sanctions on the lives of women in Iran, and that is the extent of her connection with the site.
Moshtaghian added, however, that she is happy that her daughter’s case has been returned to court and she expressed every hope that the matter would be resolved soon.
