In June, Ghoncheh Ghavami

tried to attend, with a dozen women activists, a men's volleyball match. She was arrested and detained and refused release on bail. In November, she was sentenced for a year, for daring to do something that is forbidden for Iranian women.

Ghoncheh Ghavami, 25 years, is a law graduate from London, according to rtnews.com. She was arrested when she was outside Tehran's Azadi stadium with 12 women activists who attempted to attend the game. The Islamic revolution in 1979 had barred women from entering stadia for sporting events, although there have been some who have been permitted through the years. However, though it is not "technically illegal," women are unofficially not allowed.

The 25-year old woman was charged with "propagating against the ruling system," said her lawyer, Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei, according to Independent.co. But there is no legal ban, fatwa or even any religious order banning women from attending these stadia, Leila Mouri, an Iranian women's rights activist said. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's promise of a more moderate Iran had fuelled the campaign, as they hoped that he would be more open to their demands.

However, Iran's police chief, Esmail Ahmadi Moghadam called the "mixing of men and women in stadiums" not conducive to public benefits, according to rtnews. Ghavami has been in jail for almost 130 days, including 41 in isolation at Iran's Evin Prison, which is said to have among Iran's "most notorious" detention facilities. Initially she had been released, but she was put back into jail after a few days, when officers understood that her dual British-Iranian citizenship was making her attend the police station to collect some of her belongings.

Ghavami had to spend almost three months in jail just waiting for charges. She was refused bail and finally was charged with "propaganda against the regime" in September. In October, she went on a fortnight's hunger strike to protest her arrest, according to dw.de.

Her brother, Iman Ghavami, said that though his sister had not broken a "single law," she is going through a huge punishment. His entire family was devastated, and in tears. He began a petition for her on Change.org and collected more than 700,000 signatures, while many Iranian activists and ex-prisoners met the Ghoncheh family to express their empathy.

Ghoncheh's case has spread all over the world, fuelling outrage. Amnesty International's UK director Kate Allen called her a "prisoner of conscience." Women should be allowed to freely attend all sporting events in Iran, she said. The British Foreign Ministry has filed petitions for Ghoncheh's release, but that country does not have much influence in Iran. President Rouhani, on the other hand, defended her arrest, refusing to accept dual citizenship, and firm that their laws should be "respected at every step of the way."