Fundraiser to help make a short documentary and raise media awareness about my father, a British citizen held hostage by the Iranian regime
Our Story
Our father Anoosheh Ashoori has just spent his fourth Christmas in an Iranian jail, the notorious Evin prison. He has seven more years of his 10-year sentence to serve. That’s seven more years before he can come back home to be with us, his family, here in the UK.
The Iranians have accused him of spying for Israel. He’s no more a spy than you or I. He is a peace-loving, kind, retired engineer, whose whole world has always revolved around his family. In fact, our Dad is a hostage, pure and simple – a pawn in a game that concerns the non-payment of a debt the British Government has owed Iran for over 40 years - targeted only because he is a British/Iranian citizen. His reason to visit Iran was to nurse his 90 year old mother back to health after a knee operation.
The British Government has been telling us that they are doing all they can ‘behind-the-scenes’ to bring him home. Well, it is not working. It has not been working for three and half horribly long years. So why should it work over the next seven, especially in light of the FCDO’s recent statement: “British citizens arrested overseas through no fault of their own have no right to the government’s assistance or protection, even if they’re tortured or held as diplomatic leverage against their country.”
We know through our Dad and other prisoners that COVID-19 and other illnesses are rampant in Evin prison, where the non-existence of basic sanitary products, infestations of rats, cockroaches, and bed bugs, and the high number of people living in close proximity (15 to a room), make for extremely unhealthy living conditions.
So, we are determined more than ever to bring him home and we know that we have to achieve this on our own, as the Government has so far failed spectacularly. However, with your help to fund a high-profile media campaign, we can work together to do just that. That is why we are inviting you today, to become part of our campaign to bring Anoosheh Ashoori home by contributing what you can. We really miss him and we only ask that he be allowed his basic human right as an innocent individual; to spend his golden years with his family. Thank you.
**added later**
For those of you who are asking about my dad’s charge, he was charged with spying for Israel. A country he’s never been to, never had any connections to or has had dealings with. This is an automatic charge given to all Iranian dual nationals, as a way to use them as bargaining chips and negotiate deals with their respective countries. They aren’t allowed access to lawyers, they aren’t allowed a trial nor are they allowed to be heard. The charge is given by a judge who is known as the butcher of Evin and is banned from practicing law in the international scene and condemned by United Nations.
Breakdown of funds:
We have a highly talented team of filmmakers who have generously offered their time and expertise to us for free to create a short documentary about my father and how this experience has affected us as a family. However, in order to create compelling, powerful content, we need a strong post-production process which requires funding. We have set aside a budget of £3500 which should cover all post production costs including editing, colour grading and distribution.
We also require a budget of £750 for advertising and media, in order to get our message out there. There is a limit to we can do as individuals to have our voices heard, but with a strong, experienced media campaign, we will manage to accomplish so much more and get our father a step closer to coming home. We want to put a stop to our case being ignored and brushed aside.
Finally, we have calculated that we would need a budget of £750 for legal incidentals. As with any case of this nature, we need to secure all legal aspects of our campaign, so we are hoping that these funds will aid and protect us and our cause.
Your contribution, however big or small can have life changing results for our family and with your help, we will stand up to the injustice that has kept our father locked away for so long.
This project successfully funded on 19th February 2021