Iran: CFWIJ is dismayed over one-year extension in the imprisonment period of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

April 27, 2021- CFWIJ is alarmed by the extension of one more year of imprisonment against journalist and charity worker, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Nazanin was arrested in 2016 by Iranian authorities on charges of propaganda against the regime. In the latest hearing held in March, the journalist was accused of participating in a demonstration outside the Iranian embassy 12 years ago and giving her opinion on BBC News, Persian service. The journalist was now hoping for her release after having served 5 years of her sentence but to her disappointment, her imprisonment has now been extended for a further one year. Nazanin was released from jail in March 2020 and was placed under house arrest in Tehran. CFWIJ is shocked at the blatant abuse and judicial harassment against the journalist. We strongly demand Iranian judicial authorities drop all the bogus charges and end the prolonged torture against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. 

Nazanin who has worked as a project manager for the Thomas Reuters Foundation is suffering the wrath of the Iranian regime for the past six years. Richard Ratcliffe, her husband who confirmed the new sentence shared that this is clearly a negotiating tactic that the Iranian regime is applying while they are in the middle of discussion for their nuclear activities. Richard said he is afraid that he will remain separated from his wife until 2023. He confirmed that Nazanin is being held under bogus charges and this sentence is worse than what he had expected. Richard fears that the journalist will only be released after Iran gets something in return from the U.K. The latest development is a big shock to Nazanin’s family who has fiercely campaigned for her release for the last five years. 

In March 2021, a medical examination of Nazanin was conducted under the human rights charity Redress. The report stated that the journalist is under great stress and depression for what she has suffered in prison. She told the doctors that she was often interrogated for eight to nine hours, often blindfolded. It was traumatized as the authorities would threaten her to take her child away and that her husband was a spy and unfaithful to her. Nazanin told the doctors that she was in a tiny cell during her solitary confinement and it had no window. She was given a dirt mat to sleep and the light will remain on all the time. Several times she felt hard to even breathe. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is horrified to know the details of torture against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. It is hard to even put into words what she has been through. We demand Iranian authorities to end this trauma against her as there is no truth in baseless charges they have against Nazanin. The journalist has remained separated from her daughter and husband for so long, it is high time that she gets reunited with her family and lives in peace. We also urge the U.K. government to fast the process of talks with the Iranian regime for the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.