Afghan taekwondo coach Khadija Ahmadzada, 22, has been released after spending 13 days in detention for allegedly failing to wear the hijab “properly,” playing music, and allowing both men and women to train at her fitness center near Herat, according to a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Supreme Court.
Officials from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said inspectors arrested Ahmadzada and several others for violating rules governing women’s sports facilities, adding she had received multiple prior warnings. Women’s gyms and sports centers were ordered closed shortly after the Taliban takeover in 2021, pending a “safe environment,” but have not been formally reopened.
The Supreme Court announced Ahmadzada’s release on Thursday. It is unclear where she is currently staying. Her arrest had drawn widespread attention online, including a call for her immediate release from Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan. Bennett has also highlighted the December detention of Nazira Rashidi, a female journalist from Kunduz—an arrest Taliban officials deny was linked to her reporting.
Rights groups say the case underscores continuing restrictions on Afghan women’s movement, dress, work, and participation in sport, despite international pressure on authorities to reverse bans and reopen public spaces to women and girls.