Iran temporarily releases British mother, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from jail

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman serving a five-year prison term in Tehran for alleged sedition, was released from jail for two weeks on Tuesday, her husband said in an emailed statement to AFP, as Iran released thousands of prisoners - including political detainees.

"The Free Nazanin Campaign is pleased to confirm - as has long been promised - that Nazanin was this afternoon (Tuesday) released temporarily on furlough for two weeks until 4 April 2020," Richard Ratcliffe said in an emailed statement to AFP.

Last month, Zaghari-Ratcliffe told her husband she believed she had contracted the novel coronavirus while incarcerated in Tehran's notorious Evin prison. 

Some 85,000 detainees, including political prisoners, were temporarily freed in Iran, a spokesman for its judiciary said on Tuesday, as the Islamic Republic struggles to contain the coronavirus epidemic.

"Some 50 percent of those released are security-related prisoners... Also in the jails we have taken precautionary measures to confront the outbreak," said Gholamhossein Esmaili.

Last week, Iranian authorities said they released 70,000 prisoners, though the Islamic Republic was criticised for leaving political detainees imprisoned.

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