LONDON (AP) – The husband of a British-Iranian woman jailed in Iran has gone on a hunger strike after an Iranian court ordered her to be held for another year.
On Sunday, Richard Ratcliffe, husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a humanitarian worker who has been imprisoned in Iran for more than five years, began the hunger strike.
Ratcliffe will remain camped outside the UK Foreign Ministry headquarters, Amnesty International reported, adding that the protest seeks to pressure Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government to advocate for the release of Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other imprisoned British-Iranians. .
Zaghari-Ratcliffe was jailed in Iran for five years after being detained in April 2016 at the Tehran airport on charges of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government. She, her supporters and various human rights groups reject these accusations.
In May, she was sentenced to another year in jail, accused of spreading “propaganda against the system,” for participating in a protest outside the Iranian embassy in London in 2009, a ruling that was ratified days ago by an appeals court. The ruling includes a one-year ban on leaving the country.
Ratcliffe went on a hunger strike for 15 days in front of the Iranian embassy in London, and claims that it was thanks to that that Iran freed his 7-year-old daughter Gabriella.
“We will treat the British government equally. The truth is, I never thought that I would be going on a hunger strike twice, it is not normal, “said Ratcliffe in a message on the change.org website.
He emphasized that Iran remains “the main culprit” but that the British government “is also disappointing us.”
“It is evident that the Nazanin case could have been solved months ago if it were not for certain diplomatic interests. The prime minister must assume his responsibility ”, he added.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe was an employee of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency, and was arrested on her way back to Britain from Iran, where she had gone to visit relatives. Human rights groups denounce that Iran often detains people of dual nationality to use them as negotiation chips. Tehran denies it.
Iran does not recognize dual nationalities, so Zaghari-Ratcliffe cannot receive consular assistance.
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