Richard Ratcliffe has ended his 21-day hunger strike
Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of British-Iranian detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, has ended his hunger strike outside of the UK’s Foreign Office building in London.
Posting from the ‘Free Nazanin’ Twitter account, he told followers that he “promised” to end his three-week hunger strike for the sake of their daughter, saying, “Gabriella needs two parents”.
The last act of the hunger strike will be our patchwork event in front of the Foreign Office at 13.30
Then I will be going to the hospital for a full check up.
Thank you for keeping our family in the light— Free Nazanin (@FreeNazanin) November 13, 2021
Giving the details of his final act in this particular protest – this being his second hunger strike – he went on to assure that he would get a “full check up” at the hospital following his self-starvation and thanked who kept “our family in the light”.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been held in Iran for more than five years now, having been arrested on spying charges and an alleged attempt to overthrow the Iranian government while visiting family with her daughter. She has been kept in prison ever since.
Back in May, another year was added to her jail time and last month she was denied an appeal against the subsequent sentence as her husband and campaigners struggle to bring her back home.
Earlier this year, it was reported that the UK government would pay approximately £400 million to secure her return, however, little progress has been made since then.
Mr Ratcliffe’s hunger strike was timed with COP26 in the hopes that it might once again draw attention to the long-running case and urge British delegates to discuss a resolution with Iranian politicians at the climate conference.
He was joined by supporters for a vigil on Friday night, who joined him in solidarity and to help send a message, saying his wife is simply “caught in a dispute between two states”.
Thanks so much to all the supporters that have come along to tonight’s moving vigil for #FreeNazanin pic.twitter.com/xjNfvI38q3
— Free Nazanin (@FreeNazanin) November 12, 2021
Speaking on Thursday, he said that he wouldn’t risk permanently damaging himself while he has a child to look after: “I made a promise to Nazanin, I made a promise to my family, Mum in particular, and to the family doctors, that I won’t take it too far”.
The fact this act of protest even entered had to enter the equation has been seen by many as a deep failure on the part of Boris Johnson and the Conservative government, with a Guardian journalist labelling it a “betrayal” which shows who the Prime Minister really is.
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