After Enduring Four Years in Prison; Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Brought Back to Court with New Charges

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband, the Iranian-British dual national, has announced that the Islamic Republic regime intends to prosecute Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe again by bringing fresh charges against her.

According to Sky News, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is currently serving house arrest in Tehran as a temporary measure due to the coronavirus outbreak, rather than being detained in prison. At the same time, Richard Ratcliffe, her husband, has stated that Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been told to pack her belongings and bring them to the new court session on Monday.

Mr. Ratcliffe further added: “We don’t know what will happen on Monday. We don’t know how far and when they will carry out their threat of imprisoning her.”

Previously, Mr. Ratcliffe had stated that the Islamic Republic of Iran, coinciding with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s approaching release date, intends to prosecute her for a new case on Sunday.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband has also discussed her situation with Dominic Raab, the British Foreign Secretary, and emphasized the right of British consular access for Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Dominic Raab, the British Foreign Secretary, described the Islamic Republic’s continued treatment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe as “unacceptable and unjustifiable” in a tweet and wrote: “This action undermines Iran’s credibility and causes serious harm to Nazanin and her family. Iran must end her arbitrary detention and that of all British dual nationals.”

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in June 2016 upon her return to London by Revolutionary Guards officers along with her young daughter at Tehran’s international airport and was sentenced to five years in prison by the court.

She collaborated with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, which assists in developing media throughout the world. She was accused of participation in “soft coup” against the Islamic Republic through cooperation with foreign institutions and companies. Richard Ratcliffe has described these charges against her as “absurd.”

The United States State Department has repeatedly condemned the arbitrary and capricious detention of American citizens and nationals of other countries, including Iranian dual nationals, by the Islamic Republic regime with the aim of extortion and gaining concessions from other countries, and has called for their immediate and unconditional release.

Source: Voice of America