The plight of a British-Iranian mother imprisoned in Iran will be highlighted at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.
Charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 38, was arrested at Tehran Airport in April 2016 while visiting family in Iran with her two-year-old daughter Gabriella from her home in London.
She was accused of allegedly plotting to topple the government in Tehran but the official charges against her have not been made public. Despite maintaining her innocence, Iran’s supreme court recently upheld her five-year jail term for security offences.
Amnesty International will use the arts festival to gather signatories for a petition urging the government to step up efforts for her release.
The charity will also highlight the ordeal of
77-year-old grandfather, Kamal Foroughi, also a British-Iranian. Foroughi, an oil and gas company consultant, was detained in 2011 before being convicted of espionage and possessing alcohol two years later.
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Foroughi maintains his innocence and his family have long campaigned for his release from Evin prison in Tehran — the same jail where Zaghari-Ratcliffe is held.
Amnesty’s Fringe programme includes 16 Free Imprisoned Writers readings every day of Edinburgh International Book Festival and a Freedom of Expression Award highlighting human rights in inspirational theatre.