SUPPORT FOR ANOOSHEH ASHOORI!
On March 16th 2022, after 5 years of unlawful detention in Evin prison, my Dad Anoosheh Ashoori was finally released and allowed to return back home to the UK. Our story has made global headlines and I cannot begin to express the joy we have all felt since then.
But this moment of joy almost didn’t happen.
On March 14th, Dad’s conditional release was signed and communicated to us. That same evening a request for payment of a €33000 (£27,000) illegitimate fine – which was handed to him in the verdict of a court hearing from 2018 - was relayed to us. We were told that we had to provide it before March 15th in order for Dad to actually be released.
His freedom had been dangled in front of us and there was a real risk of it being taken away again. We had been waiting for 5 years for Dad to come home and were suddenly told that the only thing now stopping this – apart from the previously unpaid debt of £400 million that the UK Government owed – was an arbitrary £27,000 fine which we suddenly had to pay.
Through various credit cards we managed to get the money together and payment was made a few hours later, just before the deadline.
We are now asking the public, who have been so supportive throughout Dad’s ordeal, to donate anything they can to help us pay back the credit card bills we had no choice to resort to in order to get him back home.
Dad was imprisoned and falsely accused of spying because he is a dual citizen and was used as a pawn and bargaining chip between two countries, he was kept in prison in horrifying conditions for 5 years and then made to pay £27,000 for the privilege. The injustice our family has suffered is indescribable. We are extremely appreciative of any assistance we can get to pay this money back and close this disturbing chapter of our lives.
Thank you.
ABOUT ANOOSHEH ASHOORI
He is a 67 year old retired humanitarian engineer who dedicated his career to designing building materials to help protect those in regions that are earthquake prone and where building costs are prohibitive.
During a visit to his mother in Tehran in 2017, Anoosheh was grabbed off the street, hooded, and driven to the infamous Evin prison, where he was subsequently sentenced to 12 years imprisonment on false charges and after a trial recognised by the UN and human right organisations as being grossly unfair.
He is father to Elika and Aryan, and husband to Sherry.