MUM’S FAMILY JOY AFTER IRAN PRISON RELEASE
CHARITY worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is “overwhelmed” and “very happy” after being temporarily released from prison in Iran for three days, her husband has said.
The British-Iranian mother has been reunited with four-year-old daughter Gabriella and other family members after spending 873 days in jail.
She was sentenced to five years in jail after being accused of spying by Tehran’s Islamist regime.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from Hampstead, London, has consistently denied all allegations, insisting she was on holiday to introduce her daughter to family.
The 39-year-old was released from Evin prison in Tehran yesterday morning and is now with family in Damavand, just outside the capital, until Sunday, according to the Free Nazanin campaign.
Husband Richard Ratcliffe welcomed the “good step”, saying: “Despite the build-up, today was a genuine surprise after all the disappointments.
“We have been burned by hope before, so it had been easier to presume disappointment would come again.
“But it didn’t – she is outside those prison walls. And we are all so pleased.”
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe said: “I was so emotional to see my grandmother today. I cried so much. I felt so overwhelmed. My dad’s home is not my home – but it is so much better than prison.
“People in the ward were so excited – they sang songs and danced. I baked for them in celebration. It felt like this really could be the beginning of the end.”
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s sister-in-law Rebecca Ratcliffe, a GP living in Cardiff, described the news as a step “towards the end of this nightmare”.
“Obviously we are over the moon that there has been some movement,” Rebecca said. “Today is a very good day for our family.There has been speculation and rumours that she may be released on furlough this week but we have had that several times before so you learn to treat it with scepticism.
“This morning we found out because she rang us up while we have been on holiday in west Wales.”
Rebecca said Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe made a video call to the family yesterday morning to share the news.
“We got to see her face for the first time in two years,” she said. “It was really quite special. I have spoken to her a couple of times but I haven’t been able to see her. We feared the worst about her appearance, but she was just glowing at the thought of going home and seeing Gabriella – so it was very special for us.”
Rebecca said the family remained hopeful her furlough would be extended beyond the three-day period.
“Iranian prisoners are permitted furlough after they have done a third of their sentence as a reward for good behaviour,” she said. “So she had been eligible from November onwards but there were barriers and blockages and it was so obscure as to why she wasn’t allowed it.”
She added: “But at the moment it is definitely a very good sign that we are coming towards the end of this nightmare.”
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s lawyer will apply to extend the furlough and several of her cellmates remain out of prison more than a month after being granted the same three-day period initially.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted: “Really good news that Nazanin has been released on furlough, credit to tireless campaigning by husband Richard and her friends. But being in prison AT ALL is gross injustice and she must be PERMANENTLY released for which every effort will continue.”
Describing the family reunion, Mr Ratcliffe said his wife was “overwhelmed”. He said: “She (Nazanin) was very happy on the phone, though confessed to having cried lots, particularly when seeing her grandmother, and to being still overwhelmed.”
Mr Ratcliffe also thanked Mr Hunt for “all his recent efforts and considerations”.
The previous foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, last year apologised for the “distress” and “suffering” he caused by suggesting Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was training journalists in Iran, which exposed her to the threat of her five-year jail sentence being doubled.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, is facing a further hearing over an unspecified security charge which her family believes will include an accusation of spreading propaganda against the Iranian regime.
On Tuesday, Mr Hunt said he was considering whether to grant diplomatic protection as a means of freeing her.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he had been going over the case in an “enormous amount of detail” and was considering a request by her husband to grant her diplomatic protection.
Mr Hunt said he had not “come to a final decision” on the issue and said there were “pros and cons”.