The Frome Amnesty Group has teamed up with fundraising platform ‘Wonderful’ to raise money and awareness of three British/Iranian citizens – Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Anoosheh Ashoori and Mehran Raoof – who have been unjustly imprisoned in Iran.
Amnesty International UK supporters around the country are aiming to collectively cover the 2,730 mile distance from London to Tehran, while drawing attention to the injustice of Nazanin, Anoosheh and Mehran’s continued imprisonment. They are doing this by whatever means they can – running, walking, skating, sailing or anything that covers distance.
Frome Amnesty group will be aiming to walk at least 300 miles during May. At the time of writing, 206 miles had been completed.
The group reports, “Nazanin, a dual British-Iranian national, was arrested in 2016 when attempting to return to the UK with her daughter after visiting her grandparents in Iran. She was separated from her daughter and held in solitary confinement for months before being convicted in a grossly unfair trial. Nazanin’s sentence has now been served but she has recently been sentenced to another year in prison, with a further year’s travel ban after that. Meanwhile her 6-year old daughter is growing up without her in London.
“Anoosheh, as a dual British-Iranian citizen, was arrested in 2017 near his mother’s home in Tehran by military intelligence officers. He too was held in solitary confinement and convicted after an unfair trial. Anoosheh has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
“Both Anoosheh and Nazanin maintain their innocence and have not been allowed to properly defend themselves against the charges levelled against them. They have also been held in appalling conditions and have been denied access to medical care during their incarceration.
“Amnesty is also campaigning for the release of Mehran Raoof, a British-Iranian labour rights activist, who is currently being held in solitary confinement.
“Read more about Nazanin and Anoosheh here: www.amnesty.org.uk/ campaign-update-nazanin-and-anoosheh. And about Mehran here: www.amnesty. org.uk/urgent-actions/ british-iranian-labour-activist-detained.”
Margaret Crawshaw of the Frome Amnesty Group, an affiliate of Amnesty International UK, added, “If they can’t come to us, we’ll go to them! We are with these innocent people every step of the way, and together we hope to #BringThemHome to their loved ones in the UK.
“Every pound we can raise for Amnesty helps support this vital work.”
To support the Frome Amnesty group’s challenge, please visit the website: https://wonderful.org/fundraisers/57
Picture: Claire, Margaret and Judy from the Frome Amnesty group.
