28 Facts About Golriz Ghahraman

Golriz Ghahraman is a New Zealand former politician, lawyer and writer.

Golriz Ghahraman's family lived in Mashhad, Iran's second largest city, where her father, an agricultural engineer, worked for the Ministry of Agriculture on the research and development of plant-based alternative fuels.

Golriz Ghahraman's mother studied as a child psychologist but was ethically opposed to "psychologists having to pledge allegiance to a religion" so refused to sit the Islamic examinations required for her to practice and never worked as such.

Golriz Ghahraman's father was Shia and her mother a Kurdish Sunni, though neither parent was religious.

Golriz Ghahraman has a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Auckland, and a Master of Studies degree in International Human Rights Law with Distinction from the University of Oxford.

Golriz Ghahraman worked as a lawyer for the United Nations as part of both the defence and prosecution teams with the tribunals in Rwanda, Cambodia and The Hague.

Golriz Ghahraman had worked on tribunals such as the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, volunteering as an intern; and was assigned to the defence team.

Golriz Ghahraman returned to New Zealand in 2012 and worked as a barrister, specialising in human rights law and criminal defence.

Golriz Ghahraman appeared before the Supreme Court of New Zealand in a case which ultimately led to the police overhauling their rules about undercover operations.

Golriz Ghahraman was selected as a Green party list candidate in January 2017 for the 2017 general election.

Golriz Ghahraman was ranked at eight on the Green party list and contested the Te Atatu electorate, where she won 1,413 votes and placed fourth.

In November 2017, it was revealed that, along with prosecuting war criminals, Golriz Ghahraman had volunteered as an intern for the legal defence team of accused war criminals such as Radovan Karadzic, as part of her work with the United Nations.

Golriz Ghahraman was re-elected a Green Party list MP at the 2020 New Zealand election and 2023 New Zealand general election, ranked seventh on the list each time.

Golriz Ghahraman contested, unsuccessfully, the Mount Roskill electorate in 2020 and the Kelston electorate in 2023, placing third in each behind their Labour Party incumbents.

Golriz Ghahraman held responsibility for immigration, customs, ethnic communities and refugees.

Golriz Ghahraman sat on the foreign affairs, defence, and trade committee during her entire parliamentary career.

On 10 January 2024, Golriz Ghahraman stood aside from her portfolios after being accused of shoplifting at Scottie's Boutique in Ponsonby.

On 16 January 2024, Golriz Ghahraman announced her resignation as a member of parliament for the Green Party, effective 18 January.

In October 2024, Golriz Ghahraman appealed the four shoplifting convictions; her lawyer argued the convictions may impact Golriz Ghahraman's application for a job at the International Criminal Court.

In early March 2019, Golriz Ghahraman suggested that the New Zealand Government cooperate with any potential Kurdish and United Nations process to bring home captured New Zealand Jihadist Mark John Taylor, who had joined the Islamic State in 2014.

Golriz Ghahraman was one of four women MPs from different political parties who co-sponsored legislation banning female genital mutilation in New Zealand in 2020.

In mid-July 2019, Golriz Ghahraman was accused of anti-Semitism by New Zealand Jewish Council spokesperson Juliet Moses after she published a tweet on 11 July describing Mary and Joseph as Palestinian refugees.

Moses alleged that Golriz Ghahraman was denying the Jewish connection to the land by not recognising Jesus was Jewish.

Golriz Ghahraman apologised that her comments had offended the Jewish community, thanking the Jewish community for their support for refugees.

In December 2020, Golriz Ghahraman joined fellow Green MP Teanau Tuiono and Labour MP Ibrahim Omer in pledging to form a new parliamentary Palestine friendship group to "raise the voices of Palestinian peoples in the New Zealand Parliament" during an event organised by the Wellington Palestine advocacy group to mark "International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinians".

Golriz Ghahraman criticised Israel for encouraging "very violent systemic attacks" on the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem and bombarding Gaza.

The governing Labour Party declined to support the Greens' motion with the Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard criticising Golriz Ghahraman for sponsoring the motion despite knowing that it was going to be voted down.

Golriz Ghahraman was in a relationship with comedian Guy Williams, which ended in late 2020.