Zaghari-ratcliffe prison release extended
IRANIAN authorities have extended Nazanin Zaghari-ratcliffe’s furlough from prison pending a decision on whether she will be granted clemency, her family said.
Mrs Zaghari-ratcliffe, one of several British-iranian dual nationals jailed in Iran, was among prisoners granted temporary release in March in response to the Covid-19 epidemic.
Her furlough was extended last month but had been due to expire today. She was informed of the extension in a telephone call with prosecutors.
“I’m not sure what will happen with clemency, but I think it buys us a couple of weeks,” Richard Ratcliffe, her husband, said. “There are clearly forces in Iran pulling in both directions, so it could go either way, but we will sleep more easily tonight.”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, said in March that many of those allowed out on furlough would be granted clemency so they would not have to return to prison. Mr Ratcliffe said his wife’s Iranian lawyer had been pushing for a decision.
Mrs Zaghari-ratcliffe, a mother of one from Hampstead, was arrested at Tehran airport in 2016 as she prepared to fly home after a holiday with her parents. She was jailed for five years for plotting to overthrow the government, a charge she denies.
Separately, the High Council for Human Rights said Kylie Moore-gilbert, a British-australian academic jailed since last year, is “healthy” and in regular contact with her family.
Iran confirmed Ms Moore-gilbert, a University of Melbourne Islamic studies lecturer, had been detained in September, but her family said she was arrested months earlier. She is serving a 10-year prison sentence for a spying conviction that she denies.
Human rights activists said this month that she had attempted suicide multiple times and was upset with the Australian government’s response to her detention.
Her family said that she was in good health, “considering her situation”.