The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has said the uncertainty of his wife’s position is “part of the abuse” as she returns to court after a five-year prison sentence.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained in 2016 as Iranian authorities made widely refuted spying allegations, and finished the latter part of her sentence under house arrest due to the coronavirus crisis.
However, the British-Iranian mother-of-one will return to court on Sunday where she may face more charges in the case, which some observers have linked to a long-standing debt Iran alleges it is owed by the UK.
Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (Ian West/PA)
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ‘relieved’ to face last trial as she appears before court in Iran Daisy Lester
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British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe appeared on trial on Sunday at Iran’s Revolutionary Court, charged with “propaganda against the system.”
Her husband Richard Ratcliffe told the PA news agency that his wife is “relieved” to have faced her last trial.
Mr Ratcliffe said: “I think the judge saying this is the last trial is just a nice feeling – I think it is a bit like you’ve done an exam, it was horrible, you don’t know whether you passed or not, but at least it is done and there’s just a relief that comes with that.
British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe appeared in a Tehran court Sunday to face new charges of "propaganda against the system", a week after she finished serving a five-year sentence, her lawyer said.
"The hearing took place in a very calm and good atmosphere, in the presence of my client," Hojjat Kermani said, adding that the judgement would be handed down at a later and unspecified date.
The 42-year-old dual national was prosecuted for "propaganda against the system for having participated in a rally in front of the Iranian embassy in London" in 2009.