The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has said the care a school has shown in hosting a play about their ordeal has made a great difference to his jailed wife.
Richard Ratcliffe was speaking before South Hampstead High School hosts and live screens a performance of the play detailing Nazanin’s imprisonment in Iran after being found guilty of plotting against the regime.
“Nazanin so wants to come home, back to London, back to Fortune Green. Having that campaigning for her back at home, all that care makes such a difference to her as she sits in a prison cell,” Mr Ratcliffe said.
The staging of the play at the Maresfield Gardens school on February 9 comes after Jessica Learmond-Criqui, who helped organise a march on Downing Street in 2016 and wrote to Iran’s supreme leader urging Nazanin’s release last year, contacted headteacher Vicky Bingham.
Ms Learmond-Criqui explained how important it was for young people to be exposed to the impact of the difference between what a country says and does.
“Nazanin’s ordeal is a tragedy, making a mockery of the human rights and freedoms to which Iran has paid lip service,” she said.
“Her case provides an insight into the impact differences between a country’s words and actions can have, which is important to highlight in schools,” she added.
The play, Looking for Mummy: Nazanin’s Story, will be staged at the school in front of 160 sixth formers and streamed live to more schools including Birkenhead High School Academy in Liverpool. About 500 students are expected to watch.
Mrs Bingham explained why she agreed to the idea: “The students care deeply about seeing Nazanin released and have a great sense of justice. I’m sure they will find the play very moving, but they will also be interested from a political perspective. They are very engaged young women.
“I hope Nazanin will feel encouraged and supported by it too and if we can do something to help raise awareness that can only be a good thing,” she added.
Mr Ratcliffe – who last month called on the United Nations to intervene in his wife’s case claiming the way she has been treated in jail amounts to torture – said: “We are both so grateful to South Hampstead High School, and all the schools involved in keeping Nazanin in the light.”
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