Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe waiting to hear if she must return to prison

  • 4/19/2020
  • 00:00
  • 9
  • 0
  • 0
news-picture

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is waiting to be told whether her temporary release from an Iranian prison is to be extended beyond this weekend, or if she will have to return to complete her five-year sentence on Sunday. The Prosecutors Office in Tehran told the British-Iranian woman’s lawyer on Saturday to come back on Sunday for an update on the situation, according to the Free Nazanin Twitter account. A spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary said on TV on Friday night that her temporary release from prison had been extended, but provided no further details. The Free Nazanin account tweeted: Released originally for two weeks with an ankle-tag as a result of a major outbreak of coronavirus in Iran, Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s leave was due to end on Saturday. It has been extended once before. “We are waiting on news tomorrow,” Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband, Richard Ratcliffe, told PA Media. Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK’s director, said: “[The news] that Nazanin and her family must wait another day in limbo for a decision is deeply disappointing. “There should be no question of her being sent back to Evin Prison – not in a few weeks’ time, not ever. Nazanin is a prisoner of conscience, convicted after a deeply unfair trial, and she should never have been behind bars at all. “It is time for Nazanin to come home. We’re urging the Iranian authorities to do the right thing tomorrow and free Nazanin.” Commenting on the situation when his wife was first released, Ratcliffe said: “My feelings today have been all of a mix – pleased at the happiness for Nazanin and [their daughter] Gabriella, but fear this is a new drawn-out game of chess. “The issue now is to make it permanent and bring Nazanin home. It is one feeling to walk out of prison. It is completely different to walk back in. No-one should be asked to go and be a hostage again. So we are watching carefully.” Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport in April 2016 having travelled to Iran to show her then 22-month-old daughter, Gabriella, to her parents. She was sentenced to five years in prison over allegations of “plotting to topple the Iranian government”. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a charity project manager, has been afforded diplomatic protection by the UK government, which says she is innocent and that Iran’s treatment of her failed to meet its obligations under international law.

مشاركة :