A British couple detained in Iran for nearly a year on suspicion of espionage have gone on hunger strike, having “lost all hope”, a relative said on Thursday.
Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both in their early fifties, were seized in January as they passed through Kerman, in central Iran, while on a round-the-world motorbike trip.
“My mum and Craig shouldn’t have to starve themselves to be seen,” said Lindsay’s son Joe Bennett in a statement.
“They’re exhausted, frightened, and feel abandoned. If this doesn’t wake our government up, what will?” he added.
The couple’s family, who, after their detention, only spoke to them for the first time in early August, have grown increasingly frustrated at the handling of their case in Iran as well as at the support received from the British government in London.
According to the statement, issued by a support group set up by family and friends, Lindsay is currently being held in Evin Prison in Tehran “without anyone who speaks her language”.
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Craig remains in another prison and is still suffering from an untreated dental problem.
“They had been promised opportunities to see each other, but this has not happened. Both have endured inhumane conditions, long stretches without contact, and repeated delays to their case,” the Free Lindsay and Craig group statement said.
Tehran has insisted the couple are spies, an accusation their family has rejected while also complaining that they have been kept in the dark about the case.
The statement came after a UK parliamentary hearing on arbitrary detention and hostage affairs.
Calling for diplomatic efforts to free the couple to be stepped up, Bennett added: “I listened to story after story of families begging for action while their loved ones disappear into this diplomatic void.”
“It’s clear the system isn’t just slow, it’s broken.”
A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said they “continue to raise this case directly with the Iranian authorities”.
Staff were also providing consular assistance and staying in close contact with their family members, a statement added.
AFP
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