A British man detained in Iran has had two more years added to his jail sentence for speaking to the press about his incarceration, his family has learned.
Craig and Lindsay Foreman, both 53, have been on hunger strike for 68 and 59 days respectively in protest at their treatment inside Iran’s notorious Evin prison.
The couple were arrested on a once-in-a-lifetime world motorcycle tour 18 months ago, and were later sentenced to 10 years in prison on espionage charges, which they completely deny.
UN human rights experts have demanded their urgent release, warning that their imprisonment raises grave concerns about state hostage-taking.
In a fresh blow this week, the couple’s family in Britain have received reports that Mr Foreman’s sentence has been extended in a hearing without a lawyer or a translator.
Joe Bennett, Ms Foreman’s son and spokesperson for the family, said: “We have received extremely concerning reports that Craig has been sentenced to a further two years in prison.
“We understand he was told he was being taken to see his lawyer but was instead brought before a judge and informed of the additional sentence. Despite requests, he was allowed no lawyer, no translator and no opportunity to defend himself.
“He was told the two years had been added because he had spoken to the press. We didn’t think we could be any more shocked at their appalling treatment, but in this case we are absolutely flabbergasted.”
The couple’s family and friends have written a letter imploring them to end their hunger strike, but it has been blocked from reaching them and contact has been cut off.
However, reports have reached the family of significant weight loss as the couple grow weaker.
Prolonged hunger strikes can lead to muscle wastage, organ damage, and, in the worst case, death. After several weeks without food, the body will likely have used up all of its fat reserves and begun to consume muscle tissue – which includes the heart – in order to survive. Nutritional deficiencies can also cause irreversible brain damage.
The Foremans have survived on just water, with a little milk and honey, since their strike began.
Mr Bennett added: “My mum and Craig are 18 months into an ordeal they should never have known. They are weak, they are hungry, and now Craig is being punished simply for being heard.
“To add two more years to an innocent man’s sentence, in secret and with no chance to defend himself, is a flagrant abuse of the most basic rights any person is owed. We are asking, with everything we have, for them to be shown mercy and allowed to come home.”
The family’s legal team has confirmed that a complaint has been submitted to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The two-year sentence now imposed on Mr Foreman will be added to that complaint as further evidence of the treatment they have endured.
Haydee Dijkstal, barrister at 33 Bedford Row Chambers, said the complaint seeks an official finding from the UN on “what is already clear – that their ongoing detention in Iran is ‘arbitrary’ under international law, that their rights have been continuously violated while detained, and that they should be immediately released”.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said it is “urgently” following up the reported increased sentence with the Iranian authorities.
Last month, The Independent revealed that Iran is seeking the return of an Iranian national who has languished in a maximum-security British prison for 23 years, as the couple urged British officials to consider an exchange.
Mr Foreman believes that Richard Jan, an Iranian stalker held in Britain for 23 years, could be the only “only avenue” to negotiating their release after his case was raised by their jailers in a consular meeting.
Jan’s incarceration was also raised in negotiations for the return of British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was detained for six years in Iran before she was finally freed after the British government settled a £400m arms debt with the country.
A UK government spokesperson last month insisted there was “no truth whatsoever to the claims of a potential exchange arrangement”. However, deputy prime minister David Lammy admitted that “arrangements can be made” when he was questioned about the issue on Sky News.
Almost 90,000 people have so far signed a petition calling for the government to intervene and the family is raising money to support their campaign
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