Tehran Chief Justice Confirms Five-Year Sentence for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

The Chief Justice of Tehran announced on Wednesday that the Tehran Appeals Court has upheld the five-year prison sentence of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an Iranian-British citizen. Gholamhossein Esmaeili stated that Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe had requested an appeal of her five-year sentence, which the appeals court reviewed. According to the Chief Justice, the appeals court 'after conducting the necessary proceedings, found the appeal to be unfounded as it believed the ruling of the lower court was well-founded and substantiated.' Previously, Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family had also reported the rejection of her appeal. Nazanin Zaghari, who traveled to Iran with her young child for the Nowruz holiday, was arrested on April 4, 2016, by the IRGC at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport while attempting to leave Iran. Iranian media reported that the IRGC accused her of 'soft overthrow.' This Iranian-British citizen worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the Reuters news agency. In June 2017, the IRGC's Quds Force described Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe as 'one of the main agents linked to foreign entities' who had carried out various missions to achieve the sinister goals of the enemies of the regime. The IRGC claimed that this Iranian-British citizen 'participated in the design and execution of media and cyber projects aimed at the soft overthrow of the sacred Islamic Republic through membership in foreign companies and institutions.' The IRGC unit claimed that she was one of the main agents of hostile institutions that had carried out criminal activities over the years under the guidance and support of foreign intelligence and media services. However, both her family and Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe herself insist on her innocence. This Iranian-British citizen previously stated in a letter that 'the injustice hidden in these moments is indescribable by any word.' The Islamic Republic has repeatedly arrested Iranian citizens with citizenship from other countries, especially American and European ones. In this context, the anniversary of Nazanin Zaghari's arrest and efforts to 'not let her be forgotten' are significant.