A 22-year-old Afghan taekwondo instructor was recently released after spending nearly two weeks detained for operating a gym that trained female athletes, according to sources.
Khadija Ahmadzada was freed on Thursday, January 22, following intervention by the Taliban’s supreme court. She had been held for 13 days after authorities accused her of multiple infractions related to her coaching activities near the western city of Herat.
According to reports, the Taliban morality police had sentenced Khadija Ahmadzada to d**th by stoning. Stoning is one of the worst punishments enforced under Sharia. It involves burying the accused in the ground and pelting them with stones until they pass away.
The young instructor was arrested for being in “violation” of rules “regarding women’s sports gyms,” according to a spokesman for the Taliban’s ministry of vice and virtue.
Her alleged offenses included not wearing “a proper hijab,” “playing music,” and allowing genders to mix in her gym, the ministry spokesman said. It has also been reported that she had received multiple warnings before her detention.
The case represents the latest example of the severe restrictions imposed on Afghan women since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Sports facilities have been closed to women for nearly four years, with authorities claiming they would reopen once a “safe environment” aligned with their strict interpretation of Islamic law could be established.
As of January 2025, no such reopening has occurred, and women remain barred from athletic competition.
These limitations on sports participation represent a pattern of restrictions that have dramatically reduced women’s access to education, employment, and public life. The Taliban has also enforced stringent dress codes for women throughout the country.
The arrest of Ahmadzada generated significant attention on social media platforms and drew international concern. Richard Bennett, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, publicly called for her immediate release through online channels.
Bennett also drew attention to another concerning case: that of female journalist Nazira Rashidi. She has been held in the northern city of Kunduz since late December. Taliban officials have denied to local media that her detention relates to her journalism work.
