Emma Thompson leads protest over UK woman jailed in Iran on propaganda charges
Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson led a small protest Saturday demanding the British government do more to help a woman jailed in Iran, accusing Boris Johnson of making her situation worse.
Thompson said the foreign secretary should “get on a plane” to Tehran as she joined supporters of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, including her husband Richard Ratcliffe, in the couple’s neighborhood of Hampstead in north-west London.
“We are a net of compassion and love for Nazanin and her family. This is what we human beings do best -- in stark contrast to the bunch of angry molecules bumping around in Westminster,” the actress said.
“If I can get out of bed with pneumonia to support a horribly abused member of our community then our foreign secretary can get on a plane and go to Iran and deal with the problem he’s so seriously exacerbated.”
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian citizen, was arrested at Tehran airport on April 3, 2016, after visiting relatives with her young daughter.
Sentence for sedition
She was sentenced to five years in jail for sedition. Then last month authorities presented extra charges, and she will appear in court on December 10 accused of spreading propaganda.
Johnson was accused of jeopardizing her defense by saying she was training journalists before she was arrested -- something her employer, the Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF), and her family have strongly denied.
The foreign secretary later clarified his remarks, saying it was clear that she was only on holiday. He is expected to raise her case when he makes an official visit to Iran in the coming weeks.
Thompson, a mother of two who won a best actress Oscar for “Howard’s End”, is supporting a “mother’s open letter” calling on Tehran to free Zaghari-Ratcliffe so she can be reunited with her daughter.
Gabriella, now three, had her British passport confiscated and has since been living with her grandparents in Iran.
-
British-Iranian aid worker sentenced to jail for 'cooperation with BBC'
Iranian appeals court confirmed the five-year jail sentence for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Television & Radio -
Iran finalizes five-year prison for Iranian-British
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained in April 2016 while trying to leave the country with her toddler daughter Middle East -
Britain concerned about prisoners in Iran including aid worker
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested as she tried to leave Iran after a visit with her two-year-old daughter World News -
Tehran urged to release British-Iranian charity worker
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested at Tehran airport as she prepared to return to Britain with the couple’s daughter Gabriella Middle East