Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Goes on Hunger Strike on Daughter’s Fifth Birthday
The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian imprisoned citizen, has announced that his wife has begun a hunger strike again on the occasion of their daughter’s birthday.
France 24 reported on Saturday, June 15, that Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian dual national, announced that his wife has begun a hunger strike for the second time as of Saturday. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s hunger strike coincides with the fifth birthday of their daughter, “Gabriella.”
Mr. Ratcliffe announced that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe “has informed Iran’s judiciary of her renewed hunger strike in protest against her unjust detention.”
Previously, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Narges Mohammadi, a detained civil activist, also went on hunger strike in December 2018 in protest against the lack of medical care provided by prison officials.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained at Tehran International Airport on April 3, 2016, while attempting to return to London with her two-year-old daughter after visiting family in Iran, and was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison on security charges.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps accused Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe of training journalists for foreign media outlets, but she denied the accusations and the Thomson Reuters Foundation formally stated that she was a simple administrative staff member at the foundation.
Recently, Iranian judicial authorities have also mentioned “another open case” for Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, which they say will be reviewed after “the resolution of the previous case.”
Western analysts say the Islamic Republic uses dual-national individuals as hostages to extract money and concessions from Western governments.
The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Iran expressed concern in his latest report, released approximately nine months ago, about the detention of dual nationals in Iran, stating that these arrests are deeply concerning and represent a clear example of the failure to follow legal procedures in Iran.
Source: Voice of America
