Husband of Iranian-British woman detained in Iran begins hunger strike in London
- Richard Ratcliffe started his fast on Sunday outside the Foreign Office after a court decided Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has to spend another year in prison
- Zaghari-Ratcliffe was first taken into custody in 2016, accused of plotting to overthrow Iran’s government
The husband of Iranian-British charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been detained more than five years in Iran, has gone on a hunger strike again after a court decided she has to spend another year in prison.
Richard Ratcliffe started his fast on Sunday outside the British government’s Foreign Office in central London.
He plans to maintain a “constant vigil” by sleeping in a tent outside the building’s main entrance in an effort to pressure Prime Minister Boris Johnson to secure the release of his wife and other detained dual British-Iranian nationals, Amnesty International said.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe served five years in prison after being taken into custody at Tehran’s airport in April 2016 and convicted of plotting the overthrow of Iran’s government, a charge that she, her supporters and rights groups deny.
In May, she was sentenced to an additional year in prison on charges of spreading “propaganda against the system” for having taken part in a protest outside the Iranian embassy in London in 2009 – a decision upheld this month by an appeal court. The verdict includes a one-year travel ban, meaning she would not be able to leave Iran until 2023.
Ratcliffe went on a 15-day hunger strike two years ago outside the Iranian embassy, a move he credits with getting their seven-year-old daughter Gabriella released.
