Published 10:58 IST, March 30th 2020
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe 'being considered for clemency' in Iran
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been on temporary release from her five-year prison term as Iran recently released prisoners amid coronavirus crisis.
- World News
- 3 min read
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian dual national has been on temporary release from her five year prison term in Iran and for the first time, would be under formal consideration of clemency. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in April 2016 on spying charges which she has always denied.
According to reports, the potential offer of clemency will be recommended to the Iranian prosecutor general’s office. Speaking to international media, her husband Richard Radcliff explained that the deputy prosecutor could either approve clemency or refer the file back to the supreme leader’s office with a recommendation that she not be granted clemency, or it could just sit on his desk for a bit. He added that, following which, the supreme leader could either refuse a recommendation not to grant clemency or could follow it and specify that Nazanin not be granted.
But the default in the process following the supreme leader’s proclamation last week is that the law requires eligible people to be granted clemency. He also said that it was a good sign that her file was put forward and that she was being treated like everybody else. Since her sentencing her September her term is to end in 10 months however, Iranian rev guards have threatened her to put on new charges and extended her term.
The 41-year-old was amongst the 85,000 prisoners, serving a prison term for less than five years, who had been released from the prison on March 17 due to the coronavirus outbreak. The mother of a British born Gabrielle Ratcliffe has been out of prison, for now, however, she is required to wear an ankle tag and remain within 300 metres of her parents’ home in Tehran where she is currently staying.
Iran releases 1 lakh prisoners
Iran, on March 29 temporarily freed nearly 1,0000 inmates from prisons in a bid to curb the spread of deadly coronavirus, international media reported citing judiciary spokesman, Gholamhossein Esmaili. The pandemic has till now infected 38,309 and killed 2,640 people across the Shiite nation.
Speaking in a televised address about the prisoners, Esmaili revealed, "As of now, around 100,000 have been released." This comes as the country’s president Hassan Rouhani recently ordered officials to extend the temporary leave of prisoners to April 20. The recent release would raise the number of free to more than double of the 54,000 released early this month.
Image Credits: Twitter/ Atridad_Saadat
Updated 10:49 IST, March 30th 2020
