Kenilworth MP visits husband of detained aid worker during hunger strike

By James Smith 12th Nov 2021

MP for Kenilworth and Southam Jeremy Wright has visited Richard Ratcliffe during his second hunger strike
MP for Kenilworth and Southam Jeremy Wright has visited Richard Ratcliffe during his second hunger strike

Kenilworth's MP has visited Richard Ratcliffe who is now 20 days into a hunger strike to urge the government to take action to bring his wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, home from Iran.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, has now been detained for over 2,000 days in Iran on spying charges.

She recently lost an appeal against a second prison sentence, and is currently staying with her mother in Iran, unable to leave the country.

Ratcliffe, who has family members in the Kenilworth and Southam constituency, was visited by Jeremy Wright MP this week.

A statement from Mr Wright's office said: "Mr Wright visited with Mr Ratcliffe this week. Mr Wright has written to ministers several times about the case of Mr Ratcliffe's wife.

"He and others continue to urge the Government to do all they can to persuade the Iranian Government to release her."

Liberal Democrat town and district Councillor Richard Dickson had called on Mr Wright in October to visit Ratcliffe and to do more to persuade ministers to find a solution to the ongoing situation.

Ratcliffe has this week vowed to continue his strike after ministers failed to agree a deal with the Iranian Government to repay a £400 million debt owed by the UK.

Speaking to Kirsty Wark on Newsnight on Wednesday (November 10) Ratcliffe said: "When he [Boris Johnson] became Prime Minister I met him once with Dominic Raab, who was then the the foreign secretary, and he said 'listen, we are doing all we can and it is a high priority'.

"Well that was two years ago and I think by now he should have kept that promise and she should be home."


(Images: Richard Ratcliffe and his wife Zaghari-Ratcliffe by MrZeroPage via wikimedia and Jeremy Wright via parliament.uk)

     

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