Magnitsky Human Rights Award Presented to Nazanin Zaghari; Gabriella Reads Her Mother’s Message

The Magnitsky Human Rights Award, titled “Courage Under Fire,” was presented Thursday at a ceremony in London to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a dual national prisoner in Iran.

At the ceremony, Gabriella, daughter of Nazanin Zaghari and Richard Ratcliffe, read her mother’s message to the attendees.

Nazanin Zaghari, an employee of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested at Tehran Airport in April 2016 on espionage charges at the end of a trip to visit her family in Iran, and was sentenced to five years in prison.

For several months now, and despite the end of her sentence, the Iranian government has once again imprisoned Ms. Zaghari by opening a new case, and Iranian officials have attributed Britain’s debt repayment as the main reason for closing this case.

In Nazanin Zaghari’s message to the ceremony, which Gabriella read, she stated: I thank you for this award. It means a great deal to me and my cellmates who remain in Evin Prison that we have not been forgotten.

Ms. Zaghari added: My heart melts seeing my daughter, who has grown so much that she could receive this award and read these words.

She emphasized: Perhaps one day we will live in a world where we do not need to fight for our freedom. But I thank all of you for standing with us at a time when we still need this struggle.

Nazanin Zaghari has consistently denied all charges against her, and Richard Ratcliffe, her husband, has repeatedly described her imprisonment as “hostage-taking” by the Iranian government over Britain’s £400 million debt to Iran.

Richard Ratcliffe also said in remarks before the awards presentation: Nazanin was very pleased to hear the news of receiving this award, for herself and also for other detainees in Iran about whom you have heard nothing.

Richard Ratcliffe further stated: Awarding the Magnitsky Human Rights Award to Nazanin is heartening given our understanding of the role sanctions through the Magnitsky Act can play in challenging Iranian government hostage-taking.

He added: All members of our family are honored by this award.

Sergei Magnitsky was an accountant who was imprisoned after exposing financial corruption by Russian officials and died suspiciously in prison less than a year later, in 2009.

The U.S. government and Congress in 2012 passed legislation called the Magnitsky Act, placing human rights violators in Russia under sanctions.

Source: Radio Farda