Women worldwide have united in a hunger strike in order to put international pressure on freeing Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe from an Iranian prison.
The global fast aims to put pressure on the UK government to take necessary actions in order to free Zaghari-Ratcliffe from being detained by Iran.
Women will take turns fasting for 24 hours straight in the new campaign meant to both raise awareness and increase pressure on the British government. A women-led volunteer organization working for the freedom of all women, FiLiA, is leading the campaign. Women from the UK, Iran, India, and Morocco have already signed up to participate in the global strike.
The campaign comes following a 21-day hunger strike by Richard Ratcliffe, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband. Richard sat outside of the Foreign Office in London for three weeks last month on his hunger strike. He criticized UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for his telling absence in speaking with him at all during his protest.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an aid worker, spent five years being imprisoned in Iran. In 2016, she was arrested by Iran on accusations of plotting to overthrow the government. She has continuously denied the claim.
Human rights experts have fought for her release and freedom for years. She recently lost an appeal case against new propaganda charges, which were filed against her by the Iranian regime. She is currently at her parents’ home in Tehran.
Her husband’s excruciatingly long hunger strike was prompted by renewed fears that she was going to be returned to prison for another year.
This was Ratcliffe’s second hunger strike in an effort to fight for his wife’s freedom. In 2019, Zaghari-Ratcliffe went on a hunger strike for 15 days.
FiLiA’s campaign demands Boris Johnson to fulfill his promise that the UK will repay 400 million pounds that it owes Iran for an unfulfilled arms deal all the way back in 1970. It is seen by Iran as a precondition for her release, as well as the release of other detainees. The second campaign demand is for a judicial review to investigate why this debt was never paid by the UK.
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