This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jan/03/zaghari-ratcliffe-to-go-on-hunger-strike-in-iranian-jail

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Zaghari-Ratcliffe to go on hunger strike in Iranian jail Zaghari-Ratcliffe to go on hunger strike in Iranian jail
(about 4 hours later)
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British woman imprisoned in Tehran on espionage charges, is to go on hunger strike in protest against being denied access to medical care.Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British woman imprisoned in Tehran on espionage charges, is to go on hunger strike in protest against being denied access to medical care.
The British-Iranian dual national is asking for access to a doctor. She announced the hunger strike from Tehran’s Evin prison in a joint letter with a fellow prisoner, the human rights activist Narges Mohammadi.The British-Iranian dual national is asking for access to a doctor. She announced the hunger strike from Tehran’s Evin prison in a joint letter with a fellow prisoner, the human rights activist Narges Mohammadi.
The women said they have planned an initial three-day hunger strike, which will be extended until their demands are met.The women said they have planned an initial three-day hunger strike, which will be extended until their demands are met.
Iran jailed Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe for diplomatic leverage, says HuntIran jailed Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe for diplomatic leverage, says Hunt
In a letter published by the Tehran-based charity Defenders of Human Rights Centre, Zaghari-Ratcliffe said she and Mohammadi were banned from accessing medical care.In a letter published by the Tehran-based charity Defenders of Human Rights Centre, Zaghari-Ratcliffe said she and Mohammadi were banned from accessing medical care.
“In protest to this illegal, inhuman and unlawful behaviour, and to express our concerns for our health and survival at this denial of specialist treatment, despite taking daily medicines, we will go on hunger strike from 14.01.2019 to 16.01.2019,” the letter said. “We announce that in the event of the authority’s failure to address these concerns and them further endangering our health, we will take further action.”“In protest to this illegal, inhuman and unlawful behaviour, and to express our concerns for our health and survival at this denial of specialist treatment, despite taking daily medicines, we will go on hunger strike from 14.01.2019 to 16.01.2019,” the letter said. “We announce that in the event of the authority’s failure to address these concerns and them further endangering our health, we will take further action.”
Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband, Richard Ratcliffe, told HuffPost UK: “She has felt she has to do something to show enough is enough, this has gone on too long. And this time I have not been able to talk her out of it.” Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, told the Guardian that medical treatment was being blocked for his wife for lumps in her breasts, for neurological care over her neck pains and numbness in her arms and legs. She had also been banned from seeing an outside psychiatrist, despite all her treatment being approved by a prison doctor, he said.
Ratcliffe said his wife was not receiving medical treatment for lumps in her breasts, or neurological and psychiatric care. He said he hoped the hunger strike would not last longer than three days. “I think she just feels enough is enough,” he said. “She has announced she is going on hunger strike for three days and maybe more. She certainly feels she has got no choice. She thinks enough is enough.”
He said his wife’s mood had been “very bleak”. He said: “Certainly when she got the lumps in her breast she was very worried, and very low.”
He had managed to calm her down previously, he said, but the fact she had spent her 40th birthday in prison on Boxing Day had affected her. “I think it was passing that milestone and feeling she’s never going to get out, and that she is going to be denied having another baby.”
Of her planned hunger strike, he said: “For me, we’ve feared this day would come. It hasn’t quite come, and I hope it doesn’t come.”
He said he hoped the Iranian authorities would change their minds over her medical treatment. He said: “We can only hope that they will relent.”
He was seeking meetings with both the Iranian ambassador to London and the British ambassador to Tehran, he said, and was also hoping for a meeting with the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt.
Saturday marked 1,000 days since Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport on 3 April 2016. She spent her 40th birthday, on Boxing Day, in prison despite renewed calls for her release. Her four-year-old daughter, Gabriella, has been staying with family in Iran.Saturday marked 1,000 days since Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport on 3 April 2016. She spent her 40th birthday, on Boxing Day, in prison despite renewed calls for her release. Her four-year-old daughter, Gabriella, has been staying with family in Iran.
Richard Ratcliffe said she feared her continued imprisonment meant she would be unable to have a longer-for second child. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from Hampstead, north London, was sentenced to five years in jail after being accused of spying, a charge she vehemently denies.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from Hampsted, north London, was sentenced to five years in jail after being accused of spying, a charge she vehemently denies. Her husband is campaigning for her release and has called her continued detention a travesty of justice. The UK foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has been unable to persuade Tehran to release her.
Mohammadi, 46, is serving a 16-year sentence after being found guilty of “establishing and running the illegal splinter group Legam”, a human rights movement that campaigns for the abolition of the death penalty.Mohammadi, 46, is serving a 16-year sentence after being found guilty of “establishing and running the illegal splinter group Legam”, a human rights movement that campaigns for the abolition of the death penalty.
Ellie Kennedy, an individuals at risk campaigner at Amnesty International UK, said: “It should obviously never have come to this. The Iranian authorities are entirely responsible for pushing these two unfairly-detained people to take such desperate measures.
“It’s shocking and unforgivable that the Iranian authorities can callously force prisoners of conscience into starving themselves in protest at their plight, and they should immediately provide full medical care to Nazanin and Narges.”
She said the UK government should strongly insist on immediate medical care for both women.
Nazanin Zaghari-RatcliffeNazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
IranIran
Jeremy HuntJeremy Hunt
newsnews
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on TwitterShare on Twitter
Share via EmailShare via Email
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn
Share on PinterestShare on Pinterest
Share on Google+Share on Google+
Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp
Share on MessengerShare on Messenger
Reuse this contentReuse this content