Iranian prison survivor warns more Brits could end up in same position as East Sussex couple
Anooseh Ashouri spent over four years in Evin Prison over spying charges - the same plight which Lindsay and Craig Foreman, could face for up to a decade
A man who survived a notorious Iranian prison is warning government inaction to free an East Sussex couple will land more British people in foreign jails.
Anooseh Ashoori spent over four years in Evin Prison over spying charges - the same plight which East Sussex couple, Lindsay and Craig Foreman, could face for up to a decade.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham was asked about the couple in this weeks' Prime Minister's questions - calling their experience "unjustified and appalling" - but family told Greatest Hits Radio they still felt in the dark over what steps were being taken to help free them.
Anooseh said ministers must "imagine how life would be there, even for one day":
"They could put that in good perspective, so that they can actually do whatever they can to have them freed from that hell.
The 72-year-old added that the government's way of handling Lindsay and Craig's case is "not much different" to his own:
"Unfortunately, if the previous governments had taken this thing seriously, perhaps we would not have Lindsay and Craig where they are now.
"It's just that inaction that has been going on from one government to another, which has, I think led to this situation."
"If we are not determined to do something about this, I promise you there will more arrests, more abductions in the future, which is going to be devastating for many," he warned.
The family are due to meet with Foreign Secretary Ed Milliband next Tuesday to find out more about what's happening behind the scenes.
Their son, Joe Bennett, said:
"We need answers. We need clarification as to why they refuse consistently to call it arbitrary detention, when it clearly is." An FCDO spokesperson said:
"Craig and Lindsay’s health and welfare is a top priority. Since their arrest last year, Britain’s Ambassador to Tehran, along with diplomats and officials in London, have been working to provide consular assistance.
"This includes the Ambassador visiting them in prison.
“The family of Craig and Lindsay have met with Minister of the Middle East Stephen Doughty alongside the UK’s Envoy for Complex Consular Detentions Alistair Burt. "Minister Doughty has set out how unjustified and appalling we consider Lindsay and Craig’s incarceration to be, and the action that the UK Government is taking to try and secure their release."