NAZANIN Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an Iranian-British detainee with links to Farnham, has appeared in court to appeal against her imprisonment.

However no verdict was announced at the end of the three-hour hearing, in which only Nazanin and her lawyer were allowed to attend, and none has appeared since.

Nazanin, a project manager at Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested on April 3 at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport, alongside her two-year-old daughter Gabriella, and was later accused of attempting to overthrow the government.

She has recently been released from solitary confinement, and now resides in a ward for women’s political prisoners.

According to former Farnham resident and husband to Nazanin, Richard Ratcliffe, the appeal court was a Revolutionary Court, heard by three judges in the presence of a number of Revolutionary Guards from both Kerman and Tehran branches, those who held her originally and more recently, plus members of the judiciary.

Since the trial, Nazanin’s family have not been able to meet with her lawyer to gather information on what happened inside the courtroom – nor have they had any contact with Nazanin.

“We had been hoping to get an update on what happened directly from her, since Sunday is visiting day for close family members of prisoners in the general cells,” said Richard.

“Gabriella and her grandparents were prevented from visiting Nazanin, which Gabriella did not take well – Gabriella has not seen mummy since Christmas Day.”

The week leading up to the trail Nazanin’s parents paid a visit to their daughter, alongside the families of the other women political prisoners. It was also agreed by prison authorities that an additional weekly visit for Gabriella on Wednesdays, would be allowed.

But according to Richard, prison authorities informed her family that Nazanin would not be allowed visits alongside the other women in her ward, but only under high security conditions in Ward 2a, under the control of the Revolutionary Guard.

Richard added: “I hope that the attempts made to prevent any discussions of Nazanin’s trial with her family, and efforts to keep her currently isolated, have no negative bearing on efforts to ensure her trial is fair.”