British-Iranian dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on Sunday appeared in a Tehran court to face new charges of “propaganda against the system,” a week after she finished serving a five-year sentence, her lawyer said.
The hearing has dashed the hopes of family and supporters for a swift release of the 42-year-old, in a case that has heightened diplomatic tensions between London and Tehran.
British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Dominic Raab said that it was “unacceptable that Iran has chosen to continue a second wholly arbitrary case.”
Photo: AP
In an interview in London on Sunday, Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said that his wife was a “political bargaining chip” and that he believed she would be convicted again.
Her lawyer, Hojjat Kermani, said that Zaghari-Ratcliffe is being prosecuted for “propaganda against the system for having participated in a rally in front of the Iranian embassy in London” in 2009.
The accused spoke in court, where she denied all charges, the Free Nazanin support campaign said.
“Nazanin ... pointed out that all the accusations and evidence put forward had been part of her trial in 2016,” the group said. “She had already been tried and convicted on this evidence.”
“The hearing took place in a very calm and good atmosphere, in the presence of my client,” Kermani said.
Under Iranian law, the court has seven working days to issue a judgement, although delays are common.
With Iran about to observe the country’s New Year celebrations, it means that a ruling might not be issued until March 30.
Britain demanded that Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the mother of one girl, be immediately allowed to fly home.
“She must be allowed to return to her family in the UK without delay,” Raab said. “We continue to do all we can to support her.”
Richard Ratcliffe said that he expected his wife to receive “the maximum sentence,” but Kermani struck a more optimistic note.
“Given the evidence presented by the defense and the legal process, and the fact that my client has also served her previous sentence, I hope that she will be acquitted,” Kermani said.
ANGER: A video shared online showed residents in a neighborhood confronting the national security minister, attempting to drag her toward floodwaters Argentina’s port city of Bahia Blanca has been “destroyed” after being pummeled by a year’s worth of rain in a matter of hours, killing 13 and driving hundreds from their homes, authorities said on Saturday. Two young girls — reportedly aged four and one — were missing after possibly being swept away by floodwaters in the wake of Friday’s storm. The deluge left hospital rooms underwater, turned neighborhoods into islands and cut electricity to swaths of the city. Argentine Minister of National Security Patricia Bullrich said Bahia Blanca was “destroyed.” The death toll rose to 13 on Saturday, up from 10 on Friday, authorities
RARE EVENT: While some cultures have a negative view of eclipses, others see them as a chance to show how people can work together, a scientist said Stargazers across a swathe of the world marveled at a dramatic red “Blood Moon” during a rare total lunar eclipse in the early hours of yesterday morning. The celestial spectacle was visible in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa. The phenomenon happens when the sun, Earth and moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite. But as the Earth’s shadow crept across the moon, it did not entirely blot out its white glow — instead the moon glowed a reddish color. This is because the
DEBT BREAK: Friedrich Merz has vowed to do ‘whatever it takes’ to free up more money for defense and infrastructure at a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty Germany’s likely next leader Friedrich Merz was set yesterday to defend his unprecedented plans to massively ramp up defense and infrastructure spending in the Bundestag as lawmakers begin debating the proposals. Merz unveiled the plans last week, vowing his center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/Christian Social Union (CSU) bloc and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) — in talks to form a coalition after last month’s elections — would quickly push them through before the end of the current legislature. Fraying Europe-US ties under US President Donald Trump have fueled calls for Germany, long dependent on the US security umbrella, to quickly
Local officials from Russia’s ruling party have caused controversy by presenting mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine with gifts of meat grinders, an appliance widely used to describe Russia’s brutal tactics on the front line. The United Russia party in the northern Murmansk region posted photographs on social media showing officials smiling as they visited bereaved mothers with gifts of flowers and boxed meat grinders for International Women’s Day on Saturday, which is widely celebrated in Russia. The post included a message thanking the “dear moms” for their “strength of spirit and the love you put into bringing up your sons.” It
RSS