Gathering in London for Nazanin Zaghari’s Freedom
A year after Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian citizen, was detained at Tehran airport upon returning from a Nowruz visit to her family with her young daughter, details of her charges still have not been announced.
The second year of Ms. Zaghari’s imprisonment will begin on April 4 this year, as according to her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, the Revolutionary Guards arrested her on the general charge of “attempting soft overthrow.”
Ms. Zaghari collaborated with the educational and charitable division of the Reuters Foundation.
According to Richard Ratcliffe, the officials told Nazanin at the time of arrest that her passport had legal issues and until the matter was clarified, they should hand over their daughter Gabriel to the paternal grandparents.
Gabriel has remained in Iran since her mother’s arrest and cannot return because security officials have also confiscated her British passport.
Richard’s efforts and international pressure for Nazanin Zaghari’s release have yielded no results.
Judicial authorities have announced that a five-year prison sentence against Ms. Zaghari has been finalized, without formally announcing her charges.
Gathering on Anniversary of Arrest by Supporters
Meanwhile, British media, referring to Mr. Ratcliffe’s efforts over the past year for Nazanin’s release, reported a gathering held on Sunday, April 2, in the suburbs of London.
Mr. Ratcliffe asked Nazanin’s supporters to tie yellow ribbons along with quotes from her cellmates in Evin Prison—who share what they wish for on the day after their release—to nearby trees on the anniversary of his wife’s detention, and to send photos of these ribbons and quotes along with their own suggestions for helping free Nazanin to the Facebook page dedicated to supporting Nazanin.
Mr. Ratcliffe said in an interview with the Farsi section of Voice of America that Nazanin said in her message that if she were free for one day, she would like to go home, have her husband make her tea, and watch her daughter while they play together as he drinks tea with her.
He also said she expressed a wish to see her daughter and husband dancing together in the living room to Michael Jackson’s music, as they used to do.
Ms. Narges Mohammadi, a human rights activist and Ms. Zaghari’s cellmate, also said in a message that if she were free for one day, she would not delay a moment in visiting her two ten-year-old children.
These messages, along with messages from several other cellmates of Nazanin Zaghari in Evin Prison, were hung on a tree in West Hampstead Park in the suburbs of London, as requested by Mr. Ratcliffe. He called this program “One Day, One Tree.”
Source: Voice of America
