KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban released Khadija Ahmadzada, a female taekwondo coach in western Herat province, on Thursday after serving a 13-day prison sentence for allegedly violating the group’s morality law, local sources confirmed.
According to sources, Ahmadzada, 22, 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.
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. She was released after completing the full sentence.
Her detention drew attention both domestically and internationally. Afghan citizens launched social media campaigns demanding her release. Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, expressed concern over Ahmadzada’s detention alongside that of journalist Nazira Rashidi in Kunduz province, calling for both women to be freed immediately and their safety ensured.
Since regaining power in 2021, the Taliban have enforced strict restrictions on women and girls, prohibiting them from secondary and higher education, most employment, public expression, and sports. The policies have eliminated opportunities for Afghan women in athletics, previously a limited avenue for empowerment.
Human rights organizations and the UN experts have condemned the measures as systematic gender-based repression, with some describing the exclusion of women and girls from public life as “gender apartheid.”
