‘Light at the end of the tunnel’ for jailed Hampstead mum Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has said she can see 'light at the end of the tunnel' after she avoided a court appearance on Sunday following a visit to Iran by foreign secretary Boris Johnson at the weekend. Picture: RICHARD RATCLIFFE - Credit: Archant
Jailed mum Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ‘can see some light’ at the end of the tunnel after she avoided being dragged back to court following a visit by foreign secretary Boris Johnson to her family in Iran.
Britain's foreign secretary Boris Johnson promised Nazanin's family he would do his best to solve the jailed mother's case. Picture: Alberto Pezzali/NurPhoto/Sipa USA) - Credit: SIPA USA/PA Images
Speaking on the phone from her Iranian prison, Nazanin told husband Richard Ratcliffe: “Is there light at the end of the tunnel? I can see some light today, more than before. Having no court suddenly. It feels like God is protecting me.”
“The court, the imprisonment emerged all of a sudden out of the blue, so I hope it can disappear out of the blue also - if there is enough will,” she added.
Nazanin, of West Hampstead, was due to appear in court on Sunday before Judge Salavati, the same man who presided over her trial in April last year when the 38-year-old was sentenced to five years in prison for spying.
A second trial on the same charge could see her sentence doubled. Nazanin’s family say she has not been told her case has been cancelled.
You may also want to watch:
The latest development comes after UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson visited Nazanin’s parents and three-year-old daughter Gabriella during a trip to Tehran at the weekend.
During the 45 minute visit on Saturday the family discussed Nazanin’s physical and mental health as well as the impact on Gabriella of growing up with neither her mum nor dad.
Most Read
- 1 Buyers launch legal action after £75k bill for flammable cladding
- 2 When Prince's Sign o' the Times shop opened in Camden
- 3 'Big elephant's backside': David Hare and Nicole Farhi slam house plans
- 4 Senior councillors knew of chance to buy office block for £12m less than they paid
- 5 New Belsize restaurant Cinder enjoys busy opening after lockdown delays
- 6 Abandoned burger trailer finally removed from Muswell Hill street
- 7 Temple Fortune's Cohens Jewellers celebrates turning 50 - a year late
- 8 'Peace and Quiet' of Muswell Hill in band's new video
- 9 'Football is everything': Camden United on tackling knife crime and supporting community
- 10 Car crashes through South Hampstead garden wall - cyclist seriously injured
Mr Johnson stressed he wanted to solve Nazanin’s case and promised the family he would do his best for the charity worker ahead of his meeting with Iranian president Hassan Rouhani on Sunday.
Nazanin’s father told Mr Johnson his only care was getting his daughter home to his family who have since hailed the visit as making a difference to the court case.
Gabriella and her grandmother visited Nazanin in Evin prison yesterday afternoon and report that she was buoyed by news of the foreign secretary’s visit.
Richard, who has expressed hope his wife would return by Christmas, said: “This weekend we had our first ripple of freedom. Who knows what lies ahead, the past 20 months have had plenty of false turns – but my hope is that the ripple in the days ahead might become a full change of tide.
“A month ago I was cursing the foreign secretary. It seems a long time. But he promised when he met that he would do his best for Nazanin and to date he has been as good as his word. He did get to Iran. He did get there before her court case. And that did make a difference.
“Of course one swallow doesn’t make a Christmas – Nazanin is not yet on a plane. But it is good to have at least a swallow in the sky,” he added.
