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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s six-year-old daughter wants ‘mommy’s house for Christmas’ as the family faces the fifth holiday season since she was imprisoned in Iran
- Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s daughter has written Boris Johnson a Christmas card
- Six-year-old Gabriella asked the prime minister to bring her mother home from Iran
- Nazanin was jailed in 2016 for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government of Iran.
- One’s mother denies the allegations and is currently under house arrest.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s daughter has said she wants ‘Mommy’s house for Christmas’ as her family faces their fifth Christmas without her after she was jailed in Iran.
The 41-year-old woman was arrested in 2016 and jailed for five years on charges that she conspired to overthrow the Iranian government.
The British-Iranian dual nationality has always denied the allegations and is currently under house arrest in Tehran, after being released from prison earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
His six-year-old daughter, Gabriella, has written a card to Boris Johnson, asking him to take her mother home before she turns 42 on December 26.
Gabriella’s Christmas card to Boris Johnson shows the prime minister alongside the six-year-old girl and her parents
The card pleads with the prime minister to ‘take my mom home for Christmas’ as Gabriella says she wants to give her mom a ‘hug and then go to the toy store’
The young man asked the prime minister: ‘Dear Boris Johnson, can you please bring my mom home for Christmas.
She has been good.
“ When I come back, I want to hug her first and then go to the toy store with her. Merry Christmas to you and your family. I love Gabriella. xxx ‘
The young woman, who was only 22 months old when her mother was arrested, can be seen writing the message as part of a film with the human rights charity Amnesty.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was jailed in Iran in 2016 for plotting to overthrow the government, a charge she has always denied. The 41-year-old, photographed with her daughter Gabriella while she was temporarily released in 2018, is currently under house arrest in Tehran.
The 10-minute clip, Two Daughters, also features Elika Ashoori, 34, the daughter of 66-year-old retired engineer and dual-national Anoosheh Ashoori, who has also been detained in Iran since August 2017.
The film ends with the couple looking into London’s Regent Street shop windows adorned with Christmas decorations.
Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been out of prison since March due to the coronavirus crisis, is now again under house arrest at her parents’ home in Tehran, with no date for the next court hearing.
She was arrested at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport while traveling to show her young daughter to her parents in April 2016.
Later, the UK government granted him diplomatic protection, arguing that he is innocent and that his treatment by Iran failed to comply with obligations under international law.
Gabriella Zaghari-Ratcliffe, six, (right) sent Boris Johnson a Christmas card asking the prime minister to help her take her mother home for Christmas. Gabriella’s plea was shared by Elika Ashoori, 34, (left) daughter of 66-year-old retired engineer and dual-national Anoosheh Ashoori, who has also been detained in Iran since August 2017.
Kate Allen, Director of Amnesty International UK, said: “This is the story of two ordinary families caught in an almost unimaginable situation, both victims of Iran’s notoriously unfair national security accusations.
“For too long, dual citizens of the UK and Iran like Nazanin and Anoosheh have been trapped in Iranian jail cells, unsure whether the UK was really doing everything it could to secure their freedom.”
She added: “As Gabriella says, Boris Johnson needs to do everything he can to get Nazanin and Anoosheh back home for Christmas.”
