Posted by Scott Lucas | Dec 16, 2020 |
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe at her parents’ home after temporary release from Evin Prison, Tehran, Iran, March 17, 2020
Members of the UK Parliament have called for action over Iran’s holding of British political prisoners.
In a Tuesday report, the Foreign Affairs Select Committee recommended designation of the detentions as “State hostage taking”. They called for proscription of the Reovlutionary Guards, which carries out and oversees the imprisonments, as a “terrorist” organization.
At least four UK-Iran dual nationals are in prison or under house arrest on electronic tag, all condemned to lengthy sentences.
Among them is the charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, seized in April 2016 as she was leaving Iran after a visit to relatives. Sentenced to five years for “espionage”, she was granted furlough in the spring amid the spread of Coronavirus. However, the former administrator for BBC Media Action has been repeatedly threatened with a longer sentence, including in September when a hearing was cancelled at the last minute.