Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: Briton reaches second year in Iranian prison
Written by News on 02/04/2018
The husband of a jailed British mother has criticised the Foreign Secretary’s unsuccessful bids to have her released as he marks the second anniversary of her arrest.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is serving a five-year jail term in Iran after she was convicted of spying, which she has always denied.
Her husband Richard said: “We didn’t expect to be needing to mark this anniversary – not after the hopes of Christmas and the Foreign Secretary’s word.
“But it remains a cold late Spring. Nazanin was told that if she wasn’t home by Christmas, at least it should be done by Nowruz, and we should worry if we go past March 2018, with the storms that might lie ahead. And now we have.”
He added: “Our story has become a test of endurance, and there is a need to recharge spirits – particularly after the disappointment of the Foreign Secretary’s mission failing to deliver, and Nazanin becoming caught up in this government stand off – so we wanted the anniversary to be an occasion where we drew positive energy.
“That is what the outside can do, and we are grateful for people’s care.”
He says she has been suffering panic attacks in her sleep in recent weeks.
Speaking to Sky News at a rally to support his wife, he said: “We want to find out what the Government thinks her rights are. She is being held because of something the Government hasn’t done.
“It is important to establish what obligations it thinks it has.”
The Free Nazanin campaign says it is a question of whether Boris Johnson has “given up” on his promise to bring her home.
Mr Ratcliffe hopes to meet with Mr Johnson soon. He claims she is being held because of a debt that has not been paid.
The campaign’s supporters held an event in north London to mark the second anniversary and asked people to leave jokes for Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe to draw strength from and to remind her there is colour in the world.
Tulip Siddiq, Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s MP, said: “In November the Foreign Secretary promised to ‘leave no stone unturned’. But since his trip to Tehran, he has been missing in action.
“Nazanin does not have the luxury of time, and Boris Johnson must act before her situation gets worse.
“If he can’t deliver on this, then it is time that the Prime Minister stepped in.”
In response to Mr Ratcliffe a spokesperson for the FCO said: “On the second anniversary of Nazanin’s arrest we continue to approach her case, and all of our British-Iranian consular cases, in a way that we judge is most likely to secure the outcome we all want.
“Therefore we will not be providing a running commentary on every twist and turn.”
(c) Sky News 2018: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: Briton reaches second year in Iranian prison
