British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been given an additional jail term in Iran.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe has already completed a five-year sentence on charges levied by Iranian authorities, the last year of which was spent under house arrest due to the pandemic.
Her lawyer Hojjat Kermani said she received the second sentence on a charge of spreading “propaganda against the system” for participating in a protest in front of the Iranian Embassy in London in 2009.
As well as the one-year jail term she has also been banned from leaving the country for a year.
Thank you for all the messages regarding Nazanin. Absolutely devastating news and shocking that her husband was only just notified. Another abusive use of her as a bargaining chip. I’m speaking to the family & will update when I know more.
— Tulip Siddiq (@TulipSiddiq) April 26, 2021
Zaghari-Ratcliffe completed her first sentence in March but was returned to court later in the month where she was tried on new charges of “propaganda against Iran”.
Many people took to social media to blame Boris Johnson and the government for her imprisonment:
https://twitter.com/Mylastrollo/status/1386663904424628232?s=20
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe just got sentenced to another year in prison.
Boris Johnson should be forced to serve it in her stead. https://t.co/2XqUaZTq81
— Chris (still a socialist) (@Socialist_Chris) April 26, 2021
https://twitter.com/IvyVic18/status/1386645265696923650?s=20
In a statement, her MP Tulip Siddiq, who represents Hampstead and Kilburn, said: “This is a terrible blow for Nazanin and her family, who have been hoping and praying that she would soon be free to come home.
“It is devastating to see Nazanin once against[sic] being abusively used as a bargaining chip.
“We’ve been told the Government has been working behind the scenes to secure Nazanin’s release.
“These efforts have clearly failed and we deserve an urgent explanation from minsters about what has happened.”
