British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe temporarily released from jail
LONDON (Reuters) - Detained British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, has been released from jail in Iran for three days, her supporters said on Thursday.
FILE PHOTO: Iranian-British aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is seen with her husband Richard Ratcliffe and her daughter Gabriella in an undated photograph handed out by her family. Ratcliffe Family Handout via REUTERS
Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in April 2016 at a Tehran airport as she was heading back to Britain with her two-year-old daughter after a family visit.
She was convicted of plotting to overthrow Iran’s clerical establishment, a charge denied by her family and the Foundation, a charity organisation that is independent of Thomson Reuters and operates independently of Reuters News.
Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt welcomed what he said on Twitter was “really good news”, and said Britain would push for a permanent release.
The Free Nazanin campaign group said Zaghari-Ratcliffe was released from Evin prison on furlough on Thursday morning and was currently with her family in Damavand in Tehran province.
The statement from her supporters quoted Zaghari-Ratcliffe as saying it would be “just awesome” for her daughter Gabriella to finally have her home.
“The thought of brushing her hair, and giving her a bath, of being able to take her to the park, and feed her, and sleep next to her – it just kills me,” she said in the statement. “It is still so hard to believe.”
She said she had received indications she would be allowed out of jail but had feared it would not happen. “I wasn’t expecting it at all when it was mentioned two weeks ago. I didn’t tell Gabriella or for a long time my mum – so if it didn’t happen I would be the only one to suffer.”
Thomson Reuters Foundation chief executive Monique Villa said it was a positive sign and she hoped that it would lead to her permanent release.
Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh; Writing by Paul Sandle; Editing by Andrew Roche
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