Iran’s Human Rights Chief Urges UK to Release Imprisoned Citizen
Deputy Chief of Iran's Judiciary and head of the country's Human Rights Headquarters Kazzem Qaribabadi slammed the British authorities' opposition over the return of a jailed Iranian Christian, calling for his freedom.
Qaribabadi criticized the UK government’s opposition to the return of Richard John, a Christian Iranian citizen who is imprisoned in the UK, and stated, “This Iranian citizen in the British prison does not enjoy favorable conditions in prison and is also deprived of receiving medical and health services.”
“The Iran’s Foreign Ministry has so far made follow-ups to improve the conditions of Richard John and return him to Iran, but the British side has not taken any action in this regard,” he said.
He stated that in order to be released from prison and return to Iran, the Christian Iranian citizen even revoked his British citizenship years ago, but the British Ministry of Justice opposed this request on the pretext that his release could be dangerous for the lives of British citizens.
Referring to the unfavorable situation of the Christian Iranian citizen in the British prison, the inhumane treatment of him in prison, as well as the recent goodwill of Iran in the release of two convicted Iranians with dual citizenship, he asked the British government to adhere to its human rights obligations and to release this Iranian citizen and return him to Iran as soon as possible.
Richard John, a Christian Iranian citizen imprisoned in the British prison, has been in jail for about 20 years, but he has not gone on leave even for a single day, even to treat his illness. UK authorities have been opposed to sending him to a protected specialized hospital.
In February, Qaribabadi stated Iran has a total of 3,800 prisoners abroad, expressing concern that some of the inmates are serving their jail terms in inappropriate conditions.
He added a number of Iranians are in overseas prisons for their offenses or due to injustice or on political and groundless pretexts, including for circumventing illegal sanctions, and that they need to be protected.
Recently, Hamid Nouri, a former Iranian judiciary employee who has been in solitary confinement in Sweden since 2019, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Sweden.
On the sidelines of a conference on the US’s human rights violations in Tehran in late June, Qaribabadi stressed that Iran is following up the case of the Iranians taken hostages by the United States over “false accusations” of bypassing sanctions imposed on the country.
“The United States is one of the main violators of human rights at home and abroad, and human rights for the United States are merely a tool to exert political pressure on independent countries to achieve its foreign policy goals,” he continued.
“The US is the biggest enemy of humanity. Now’s the time for the international community to hold the US accountable for its crimes,” the official added.
Qaribabadi denounced international organizations for failure to take practical measures against the United States’ arbitrary measures, saying they lost their clout because they have become “politicized”.
He stated Iran has weighed several proposals, including a prisoner exchange deal, to get the hostages released and will step up its efforts to achieve results, without giving further details.
