Khadija Ahmadzada
Reports from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan say, Khadija Ahmadzada, a 22-year-old Afghan woman who was reportedly running a taekwondo gym for girls in western Herat province, has been released after serving a 13-day prison sentence for allegedly violating the country’s morality law.
According to local sources, Ahmadzada and her father were arrested around January 10 in Herat’s Jebrail neighborhood by officials from the Taliban Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, the body responsible for enforcing the group’s strict morality rules.
Ahmadzada was accused of not wearing “a proper hijab”, “playing music” and allowing genders to mix in her gym, a ministry spokesman said, adding that she had been given multiple warnings.
A Taliban court later sentenced her to 13 days in prison for violating the group’s rules, though no detailed explanation of the alleged offense was made public.
The case was then referred to the supreme court, which announced she would be released on Thursday 23 January.
Sports clubs have been closed to women since 2021, shortly after the Taliban returned to power.
At the time, it was said they would reopen once a “safe environment” had been established.
As of January 2026, no sports club has reopened, while women are still unable to compete.
It is one of a raft of measures that have been imposed on women by the Taliban since 2021, which have seen their rights to education and work curtailed as well as strict rules around clothing imposed.
News of Ahmadzada’s arrest led to an outcry on social media, attracting the attention of Richard Bennett, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, who posted online calling for her immediate release.
He also highlighted the case of female journalist Nazira Rashidi, in the northern city of Kunduz, who was detained in late December.
Taliban spokesmen deny her detention is related to her work as a journalist, according to local media. — Agencies via SG
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