Pneumonia-hit Emma Thompson braves the cold to protest over jailing of British mother in Iran - and call on Boris Johnson to 'get on a plane' to solve the crisis

Actress joined calls for government to do more to bring British mother home
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was jailed in Tehran in April 2016 as she tried to leave
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson previously met with her husband after a gaffe
He apologised for statement that cast doubt on statements form her employer
Emma Thompson joined a rally in Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's support in London

Published: 16:59 GMT, 25 November 2017 | Updated: 17:40 GMT, 25 November 2017

e-mail

588

View
comments

Actress Emma Thompson braved the cold despite suffering with pneumonia to join a march in support of a British mother jailed in Iran.

The Oscar-winning actress turned out with dozens of supporters as they urged the government to do more to bring home Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been imprisoned in Tehran since April 2016, when she was arrested at the city's airport after a holiday with her then 22-month-old daughter Gabriella.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been imprisoned in Tehran since April 2016, when she was arrested at the city's airport after a holiday with her then 22-month-old daughter Gabriella.

Scroll down for video

The Oscar-winning actress turned out with dozens of supporters as they urged the government to do more to bring home Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Mrs Thompson is pictured with Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard Ratcliffe

The Love Actually actress called on Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to 'get on a plane', after his suggestion earlier this month that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was training journalists in Iran exposed her to the threat of her sentence being doubled

Richard Ratcliffe talks to demonstrators after following a march in support of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian mother who is in jail in Iran

Demonstrators march in support of the British mother, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliff, who is an aid worker with the Thomson Reuters foundation. She was accused of trying to overthrow the clerical regime in Tehran

Mrs Thompson told the rally near her home in north London: 'I'm so grateful for everybody's support and love... I am so overwhelmed and moved.

'All that is on my mind is to be back home and to be back with my family.'

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced to five years in jail on charges of spying and seeking to overthrow the Tehran regime, and has been held in solitary confinement.

Her family has led a long-running campaign for her release, saying she is innocent and raising fears for her physical and mental health.

At the protest a tearful Thompson hit out at the 'bunch of angry molecules bumping around in Westminster' and urged the Government to do more to bring her home.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, right, pictured with her husband Richard and their child Gabriella

The mother-of-one's employer The Thomson Reuters Foundation confirmed she has not been training journalists while on her visit to see her family in Iran

Richard Ratcliffe, right, discussed his wife's case with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, left

The Love Actually actress, who was suffering from pneumonia, called on Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to 'get on a plane', after his suggestion earlier this month that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was training journalists in Iran exposed her to the threat of her five-year sentence being doubled.

The Oscar-winning actress said: 'We are a net of compassion and love for Nazanin and her family. This is what we human beings do best, in stark contrast to the bunch of angry molecules bumping around in Westminster.

'If I can get out of bed with pneumonia to support a horribly abused member of our community then our Foreign Secretary can get on a plane and go to Iran and deal with the problem he's so seriously exacerbated.'

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced to five years in jail on charges of spying and seeking to overthrow the Tehran regime, and has been held in solitary confinement

At the protest a tearful Thompson hit out at the 'bunch of angry molecules bumping around in Westminster' and urged the Government to do more to bring her home.

She added: 'The screw is twisting more and more and her physical and mental health is deteriorating to such a degree now that I think we are in a very urgent situation.

'I can't imagine the effect of being separated for 19 months from your child. I would have gone bonkers if that had happened to me.

'I'm just so passionate about getting her back, it's a sort of physical feeling of anguish for her.'

Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn Tulip Siddiq spoke to Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, and later said: 'We discussed how we would take both our daughters to Peppa Pig World when she's released.'

Richard Ratcliffe is joined by supporters including actress Emma Thompson (left) and Tulip Siddiq MP (right) in Hampstead

The rally took place before a march to the Shia Islamic Centre of England in Maida Vale, north-west London, to hand in a 'Mothers' Open Letter' asking for Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release from the Tehran prison

The actress pictured with Richard Ratcliffe. He said: 'I can really feel the love, and Nazanin can feel the love, and in the end that's the most important thing, that's what keeps us going'

Mrs Zaghari-Racliffe's husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said: 'It is profoundly moving to see so many people here.

'I can really feel the love, and Nazanin can feel the love, and in the end that's the most important thing, that's what keeps us going.'

An online petition calling for her to be returned to Britain has had

more than 1.3 million signatures.

Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK's director, said: 'Once again, it's inspiring to see so many people supporting Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her family this way.

'She's been put through a deeply unfair trial and could be facing a fresh charge, so it's extremely important that the recent political focus on Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case now translates into the Iranian authorities finally releasing her.'