Husband of British-Iranian woman detained in Iran criticises Foreign Office

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJc6T5t3T-dItvh9v-cIwAfR2pVWT0qV41rBZprFaq6Y0gKHCill9TyGmYMfJVoHQKQwBaBcoUMWrqJ3sQBl2_J0MmfmSbdDohXs_MhmB2ybkRX9IXjUH-Ddn5i11yEOFuV1Q6ko5KgM0/s1600/London+UK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="London, England" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJc6T5t3T-dItvh9v-cIwAfR2pVWT0qV41rBZprFaq6Y0gKHCill9TyGmYMfJVoHQKQwBaBcoUMWrqJ3sQBl2_J0MmfmSbdDohXs_MhmB2ybkRX9IXjUH-Ddn5i11yEOFuV1Q6ko5KgM0/s400/London+UK.jpg" title="London, England" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The husband of a British-Iranian woman who has been detained without charge in Tehran for 83 days has spoken of his anger over the Foreign Office's handling of the matter, saying he feels "gamed" by officials who value trade above the welfare of British citizens and objected to his going public with the case.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Richard Ratcliffe told the Guardian he felt trade relations had been prioritised over the welfare of his wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, and their 2-year-old daughter Gabriella. "I don't think Nazanin and Gabriella's case, nor any of the others, is a top priority at the moment," he said, referring to 4 other British passport holders he understands are being detained in Iran. "The top priority of the Foreign Office is trade."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation as a project manager, was arrested at Tehran's international airport by members of the country's Revolutionary Guard on 3 April. She had been about to return to the UK from a family visit in her home country. This month the Revolutionary Guard released a statement accusing her of fomenting a "soft overthrow" of the Islamic Republic, which her husband described as "farcical".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 37-year-old charity worker has since been held in solitary confinement under interrogation and refused access to a lawyer. If convicted of espionage charges she could face up to 20 years in prison or the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ratcliffe did not meet Foreign Office officials until after he had made his wife's case public in May, 36 days after her arrest, and then only at his request. "It felt almost like the Foreign Office resented me for going public. I was angry, and I felt gamed," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We would have a series of calls and there would be a sort of strange dynamic where occasionally it felt like they were almost trying to get me on record as having said how helpful [they had been]. It's like dealing with a fucking insurance company trying to get out of paying a claim. This is a really odd definition of support, isn't it? It is a really odd dynamic to be covering your arse that early on."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ratcliffe describes the government's position as: "'This is a delicate matter, we'll hope the Iranians will be nice.' It's like, delicate? I mean, if this was your wife? They can use political capital to force the situation. But there has been no public statement of criticism by a senior politician, and the Iranians notice that."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Zaghari-Ratcliffe is 1 of 3 female dual-citizenship foreign nationals to have been detained by the Revolutionary Guard in the past 3 months. But whereas since March the US state department website has warned dual-passport holders not to visit Iran, the Foreign Office website does not.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gabriella's British passport was confiscated by the Iranian authorities, and she is being looked after by her grandparents. Under Iranian law only her father or mother can bring her home. Zaghari-Ratcliffe is being detained 620 miles from her daughter in Kerman prison.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We have been supporting Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family since we were first made aware of her arrest. Minister for the Middle East, Tobias Ellwood, has met personally with the family to reassure them that we will continue to do all we can on this case."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The matter is understood to have been raised with Iranian officials, including by the foreign secretary with the Iranian foreign minister.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: The Guardian, June 25, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span></div></div>

Consular assistance Espionage Iran Islamic Law sharia UK Women Husband of British-Iranian woman detained in Iran criticises Foreign Office

The husband of a British-Iranian woman who has been detained without charge in Tehran for 83 days has spoken of his anger over the Foreign O...

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Egypt: Mursi sentenced to 40 years in Qatar spy case

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfiCPhAlsIgfsD35mXIG5B1Yux_3kSLk457Vv2crdL_BpI5vEhOXqMH2yhmWkffRkuKyWdWQFhyEbr_KKharxC-F-FRxRtxWfvyexKlF0I-dHVYQ2mKQuRss05dN9_JKXCWrzYmExAvzA/s1600/The+6th+October+Bridge+in+central+Cairo%252C+Egypt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cairo, Egypt" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfiCPhAlsIgfsD35mXIG5B1Yux_3kSLk457Vv2crdL_BpI5vEhOXqMH2yhmWkffRkuKyWdWQFhyEbr_KKharxC-F-FRxRtxWfvyexKlF0I-dHVYQ2mKQuRss05dN9_JKXCWrzYmExAvzA/s400/The+6th+October+Bridge+in+central+Cairo%252C+Egypt.jpg" title="Cairo, Egypt" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cairo, Egypt</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Court upholds death sentences against 6 other defendants for supplying Qatar with classified state documents under Mursi's rule</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced toppled Islamist president Mohammad Mursi to a total of 40 years in prison after convicting him of jeopardising national security by having passed classified state documents to Qatar when he was in power.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Mursi to life in prison - a verdict equal to 25 years in Egypt - and 15 more years on 2 separate counts in the case.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The verdict is the latest in a series of sentences against Mursi who is already on death row.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">2 ex-aides to Mursi were also given sentences of a total of 40 years in prison each in the same case.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The court confirmed initial death sentences it passed last month against 6 more defendants in the case after the verdicts had been ratified by the country's top Islamic legal official, the Grand Mufti.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The accused deserve the penalty of death because they put the nation in danger," chief judge Mohammad Sherin quoted the mufti as saying in his advisory opinion to the court.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"They obtained state secrets with the intention of divulging them to a foreign country. Thus, they breached trust," the top Muslim cleric added, referring to the convicts.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Egyptian law requires the mufti to sign off on death sentences. His opinion is not binding, but is usually respected by courts.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">All the rulings are subjected to appeal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The leaked documents were pertaining to the Egyptian army, its armament and concentrations, the chief judge added in a statement broadcast live on Egyptian television.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The session was held at a makeshift courtroom in the Police Academy outside Cairo.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Qatar is a staunch backer of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood. Ties have soured between Egypt and Qatar since the army's 2013 ouster of Mursi following massive street protests against his 1-year rule. Hearings in this case, dubbed "espionage with Qatar", opened in February 2015.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mursi is already on death row after another court sentenced him to death last year in a separate case related to orchestrating a big prison escape during the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime president Hosni Mubarak. Mursi was also given a life sentence after being convicted of conspiring with foreign organisations for the jailbreak.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The "Qatar spying" trial is one of several in which Mursi is charged with multiple criminal charges. Mursi, a senior leader in the now-outlawed Brotherhood, is being tried in another case related to insulting the judiciary. The Islamist leader insists he remains the rightful president of Egypt.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: Gulf News, June 18, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Two Al-Jazeera journalists given death penalty by Egyptian court</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">6 people, including 2 Al-Jazeera journalists, have been sentenced to death by an Egyptian court for allegedly passing documents relating to national security to Qatar and the Doha-based TV network during the rule of Mohammed Morsi.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The former Islamist president was also sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was ousted by the military in July 2013 and has already been sentenced to death in another case. Saturday's verdicts can be appealed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 2 Al-Jazeera employees - identified by the judge as news producer Alaa Omar Mohammed and news editor Ibrahim Mohammed Hilal - were sentenced in absentia along with Asmaa al-Khateib, who worked for Rasd, a media network widely suspected of links to Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Brotherhood was banned and declared a terrorist group after Morsi was ousted.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 3 other defendants sentenced to death on Saturday are documentary producer Ahmed Afify, EgyptAir cabin crew member Mohammed Keilany and academic Ahmed Ismail.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Egypt's relations with Qatar have been fraught with tension since the overthrow of Morsi, who enjoyed the support of the tiny but wealthy Gulf state. Cairo also maintains that Al-Jazeera's news coverage of Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East is biased in favor of militant Islamic groups.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last year, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi pardoned two imprisoned journalists from the Al-Jazeera English news network.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mohamed Fahmy, an Egyptian-born Canadian, and Egyptian Baher Mohamed were arrested in December 2013. They were sentenced last year to 3 years in prison for airing what a court described as "false news" and coverage biased in favour of the Muslim Brotherhood.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The prosecution of the 2, along with Australian Peter Greste - deported in February last year - drew strong international condemnation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Their long-running trial was entangled from the start with the wider political enmity between Egypt and Qatar.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: independent.ie, June 18, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span></div></div>

Egypt Espionage Islamism Muslim Brotherhood Political trials Qatar Egypt: Mursi sentenced to 40 years in Qatar spy case

Cairo, Egypt Court upholds death sentences against 6 other defendants for supplying Qatar with classified state documents under Mursi's ...

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