Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian dual-national charity worker, was arrested at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport on 3 April 2016 prior to boarding a plane back to the UK after a regular family visit to the country with her infant daughter Gabriella. After being detained in solitary confinement without access to a lawyer, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced to five years in prison in September 2016 after being convicted of “membership of an illegal group” in a grossly unfair trial by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran.

UK/Iran: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe released from prison for two weeks

Responding to news that the British charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been released for two weeks on furlough from Tehran’s Evin Prison amid ongoing fears that she could have contracted coronavirus in the jail, Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK’s Director, said:

“The immediate priority is that Nazanin gets proper medical care, including a full coronavirus check-up.

“The immediate priority is that Nazanin gets proper medical care, including a full coronavirus check-up.

Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK Director

“Beyond the immediate health concerns, let’s not lose sight of where we are – Nazanin is a prisoner of conscience, convicted after a deeply unfair trial who should never have been behind bars at all.

“We’re now calling on the Iranian authorities to end Nazanin’s ordeal and finally allow her to return to her family in the UK as soon as she’s well enough to travel and as soon as any coronavirus travel restrictions allow.”

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