Brit mum Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ‘suicidal’ as she waits to see if Boris Johnson blunder will increase jail time
A BRIT mum is said to be “suicidal” as she waits to see if Boris Johnson’s blunder will increase her jail time.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in Iran in April 2016 while visiting her family and jailed for teaching journalists’ propaganda – charges she denies.
She is said to being tormented by non-stop lies pumped out about her on Iranian TV, and has told relatives: “I just want to be a normal person again.”
This week will mark Nazanin’s 600th day in prison - meaning that she has served a third of her five-year sentence.
But in October she was told she faces new charges with prosecutors alleging she joined organisations which specifically worked to overthrow the government.
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR:
- Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was jailed for five years in April last year after being convicted of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment.
- She denied the charges saying she was on holiday taking her daughter to meet the girl's grandparents.
- In October, Nazanin was told she faced new charges with prosecutors alleging she joined organisations which specifically worked to overthrow the government.
- Boris Johnson then told a parliamentary inquiry on November 1 that Nazanin had been teaching journalism when she was originally arrested.
- Iranian state TV used these comments as apparent proof she was plotting against the state.
- Nazanin was later taken to an unscheduled court hearing where she was threatened with another five years in prison.
Mr Johnson then gave incorrect evidence to a committee of MPs on November 1 that she had been teaching journalism when she was originally arrested.
Iranian state TV used these comments as apparent proof she was plotting against the state.
Nazanin was later taken to an unscheduled court hearing where she was threatened with extra jail time.
Nazanin is in the Iranian news on a daily basis, bringing fresh agony but prompting sympathy for her from her fellow inmates.
Nazanin told relatives: “It is torture to keep hearing these lies on TV. I get very agitated by all the press attention in Iran.
“People tell me here it is all about politics. But I don’t care about the politics. Surely I can be released on humanitarian grounds?
“I cannot wait for this turmoil to end. It keeps me on the edge all the time. I don’t want to be in the news. “I just want to be a normal person again, with a normal life with my child.”
Last week, her husband Richard had a meeting with the Foreign Secretary to discuss how to get Nazanin back home and reunite the couple with their young daughter Gabriella, who is being cared for by relatives in Iran.
Mr Ratcliffe is hoping to join Boris on a trip to the country later this year to lobby local politicians in person.
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