The British-Iranian woman jailed for protesting against Iran's ban on women watching men's volleyball matches was temporarily released from prison on Sunday.
Ghoncheh Ghavami, 25, returned home on bail while she awaits her appeal, Ghavami's mother announced in a Facebook post, following multiple reports suggesting she had been freed.
Ghoncheh Ghavami British-Iranian woman detained for trying to watch volleyball match freed— Sobhan Hassanvand (@Hassanvand) November 23, 2014
Ghoncheh Ghavami has been released on 100 million tomans bail #Iran #HumanRights pic.twitter.com/aAOk49oSWX— Persian Banoo (@persianbanoo) November 23, 2014
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Post by Free Ghoncheh Ghavami غنچه قوامی را ازاد کنید.
Ghavami was detained in June after she tried to attend a volleyball match between Iran and Italy, and participated in a protest outside the sports stadium. Iran banned women from attending men's volleyball games in 2012, with authorities saying they need protection from male fans' lewd behavior, according to the BBC.
Along with other demonstrators, Ghavami was released after several hours, but authorities arrested her again 10 days later. They charged her with "propagating against the ruling system [spreading propaganda against the state]."
Since then, Ghavami has been detained at Tehran's infamous Evin prison, and was kept in solitary confinement for weeks. While in prison, she staged a hunger strike to protest her treatment.
Ghavami's plight received international media attention, and at the time of this writing, more than 728,000 people have signed a Change.org petition, demanding her release.