British-Iranian woman’s prison leave extended

London, March 29 (IANS) Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman who was sentenced to five years in jail in Tehran for alleged spying, has had her temporary leave from prison in extended by two weeks, her husband has said.

The 41-year-old was released from Evin prison on March 17 because of the coronavirus outbreak, the BBC reported on Saturday.

Nazanins husband Richard Ratcliffe said on Saturday that his wife’s file had also been put forward to the Iranian prosecutor general for consideration for clemency.

She was jailed in 2016 on spying charges that she has always denied.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been at her parents’ home in Tehran since being freed but is required to wear an ankle tag and remain within 300m of the property.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from Hampstead, north-west London, was serving a five-year sentence.

Her British-born daughter Gabriella, who was with her when she was detained, returned to the UK last October to start school. She had been living with her grandparents, the BBC said in the reort.

Iran is one of the countries worst-hit by the pandemic, with 139 people dying over the last 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 2,517.

It has temporarily released tens of thousands of prisoners in recent weeks in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Earlier this month it said it had released about 85,000 prisoners who had tested negative for the virus and had posted bail.

–IANS

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