Sixty people were moved beyond words by the powerful testimonial of Richard Ratcliffe about his campaign to #FreeNazanin
On 12 July Richard shared his time generously with Members of Soroptimist International St Albans and District plus other Soroptimists and guests from around the country. We will keep you posted with any plans to engage Soroptimists in action and campaigning needed in the UK and around the world if necessary.
In 2016 Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was unlawfully detained in Tehran while taking daughter Gabriella to see her family, after widely refuted allegations were made against her by Iranian authorities. Nazanin’s husband Richard has been fighting continuously throughout this time to free his wife and bring her home, having not seen her in person since the arrest.
Please continue reading for a summary of Richard’s heart-rending narrative.
Louise Marron (pictured left) introduced our guest speaker, Richard Ratcliffe and led the meeting. It was Louise who made the connection and invited Richard.
Richard explained how he met his wife Nazanin and their early life and birth of daughter. He explained what happened when she was initially arrested. She was initially thought as missing as there was no information about her whereabouts or arrest. She was taken by the Iranian Revolutionist Guards and held in prison. It emerged that her arrest was linked to a political issue between Iran and the UK. She was being held to place pressure on the British Government regarding a debt from an arms deal made in the 1970s. The debt hasn’t been paid due to sanctions.
Richard and his family started an initial campaign to raise awareness. Amnesty International became involved. After a long legal process, Nazanin was convicted. Just as the sentence was coming to an end the issue was raised in parliament and some incorrect information was shared by Boris Johnson who was Foreign Secretary at that time, leading to another court case being initiated. This led to her prison sentence being doubled. Jeremy Hunt took over as Foreign Secretary and things progressed in a more positive way with Nazanin being granted some diplomatic rights and viewed formally as a hostage. Dominic Raab took over the role more recently and took a more cautious view to begin with and Richard is able to talk with him constructively now.
At present Nazanin is being held under house arrest at her parents’ home in Iran. This is due to COVID. Richard explained how difficult the situation is being caught between the Iranian and British governments. The case has become higher profile, so this has complicated the situation. She becomes safer as she is higher profile but she becomes a more powerful bargaining tool so her sentence could potentially become more drawn out.
Richard shared how important campaigning has been for providing solidarity and knowing he is not alone. Knowing the outside world is witness to this incredibly difficult situation helps too. The first 8 months of Nazanin’s sentence were spent in solitary confinement, and this was extremely isolating. When she was transferred from this to the main prison with others, she gained some support and care from other prisoners.
Richard said he is gradually learning of others who have been through similar battles. This has been important to him and has provided solidarity and helped him to process what the family are going through.
Richard took some questions from those attending. He shared how touched he has been by the kindness of others. While on hunger strike outside of the Iranian Embassy he felt humbled by the Iranians who had been through similar experiences who came to visit and share their experiences with him.
He was surprised at how long it took for it to be accepted that Nazanin was being held due to an unpaid debt. People thought there must be more to the situation but eventually people began to understand. The initial narrative being created was that Nazanin was a spy, he was a spy or other family members have been involved in spying.
Richard movingly shared his experiences of being separated from his daughter at the start of the sentence for over 3 years and feeling replaced temporarily as a parent. He is also coming to terms with the fact that his daughter left him as a 20-month-old and returned as a 5 year old speaking her own mind and now she is 7. He shared his experiences campaigning and using social media, plus the impact of the messages from people via the Change petition. Richard told us that these messages have since been read by Nazanin and they act as a record of the care being shared by others which has been helpful. Nazanin’s 2000 days of imprisonment is in September this year. Her sentence was due to come to an end in March but she wasn’t freed so Richard is uncertain whether she will be home by September.
Redress is an organisation that have been a support with the Human Rights work at United Nations. 
The event was free and raised more than £400 in generous donations for Richard’s charity of choice, REDRESS – who have represented Nazanin since 2016 and remain committed to bringing her home with vital legal human rights law casework and advocacy redress.org/get-involved/help-bring-nazanin-home
Richard was thanked for sharing his story with so much candour and clarity and offered support from the club and other Soroptimists Clubs in the UK.
Nazanin’s situation, is an ongoing and high profile human rights case, which everyone attending had read about in the news but were still completely blown away by Richard’s telling of his family’s story.The image above is of Richard Ratcliffe and his daughter Gabriella, protesting for the release of Nazanin, outside the Iranian Embassy in London earlier this year – Reuters.