Journal letter: Nazanin

The following letter from our chair was published in the Salisbury Journal

MOTHER’S Day is around the corner and many people are buying cards and flowers, planning visits and days out with their mothers, and generally making this a special day.
This Mother’s Day we’re [Amnesty International] asking readers to spare a thought for one particular mother – Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian charity worker who’s already spent three years in an Iranian jail after a deeply unfair trial.

For three long years Nazanin has been separated from her young daughter Gabriella, who only gets to see her mother on short prison visits in Tehran.

Recently, the Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced the Government was giving Nazanin “diplomatic protection” status, meaning her case is now officially considered to be the cause of a formal dispute between our country and Iran.

This is welcome. It means the UK is taking her plight seriously and is committing itself to using all its international influence to gain her freedom.  Readers can show their support for Nazanin by adding their name to our petition – amnesty.org.uk/nazanin – to the Iranian authorities calling for her release.

Andrew Hemming
Chair, Amnesty International, Salisbury branch