LONDON: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has told the world not to “turn a blind eye” to Iran’s human rights abuses and urged the UK government to act as protests in the republic intensify.
Speaking to Sky News, Zaghari-Ratcliffe said the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last month while in the custody of Tehran’s morality police brought up memories of her own sense of “how helpless you are while in police custody” in Iran.
“What has helped the Iranian regime sustain the way they are treating people is just the way they arrest you and disconnect you from the rest of the world,” she said.
“So, they put (you) in solitary confinement, or they take you somewhere unknown and break you emotionally. This is in my head every time I hear the news of somebody being arrested. I think about what I have gone through… imagining what they will be going through now.”
Amini was detained for allegedly breaching Iran’s strict Islamic dress code, requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab.
Protests erupted after her death, with police claiming she had suffered cardiac arrest in a detention center before dying in a hospital, but this has been contested by Amini’s family who claim her death was the result of police brutality.
Describing the women taking to Iran’s streets in protest as “very powerful,” Zaghari-Ratcliffe said they were “making history.”
Thousands in Iran have taken to the streets in protest against the nation’s morality police and treatment of women. Human rights groups claim that at least 133 protestors have been killed so far.
Addressing the UK government, Zaghari-Ratcliffe said: “If you’re talking about citizens and their rights as a priority, you have to really act, just talking about it doesn’t solve it.
“I want the (UK) to observe what’s happening, not turn a blind eye. I want them to protect us. We cannot be indifferent about what’s happening in Iran. If we talk about protecting rights of citizens, we have to do something about it. And I think we have to hold Iran accountable.”
