It’s here! Cardiff Amnesty have unveiled their new poster for ‘Stand Up in the Park 2019’ in support of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
Cardiff Amnesty and Cardiff Open Air Theatre Festival have joined forces once again to hold a third night of Stand Up to highlight the plight of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. An evening of comedy in support of human rights: what could be better?
‘Stand Up in the Park’ will be held in Sophia Gardens on Sunday 7th July. Featuring well-known comedy circuit performers Robin Morgan, Dane Baptiste and Angela Barnes, it promises to be a side-splitting night of laughter with a social conscience.
The 7th July will also mark 1,190 days since charity worker Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s arrest while on a family holiday in Iran in 2016. To mark this event we will unveil a giant knitted chain symbolising the ongoing concern people across the UK have for her plight.
The 200-metre-long knitted chain – made up of multiple knitted links, each containing 1,190 stitches – has been produced by knitting enthusiasts from across the country. Tickets are available here
Stand Up in the Park
Compered once again by the outstanding Clint Edwards, the third “Naz Night” of comedy at Cardiff Open Air Theatre Festival on Sunday 7th July will feature superb comedians:
- Robin Morgan – A brilliant Welsh act who writes on Have I Got News For You, News Quiz and Mash Report
- Dane Baptiste – Star of Live at the Apollo, Tonight at London Palladium, and his own sitcom Sunny D.
- Angela Barnes – Multi award winning star of Live at the Apollo, Mock the Week, and host of Newsjack.
Grossly Unfair Trial
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 40, a British-Iranian dual-national charity worker, was arrested at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport on 3rd April 2016 prior to boarding a plane back to the UK after a regular family visit to the country with her infant daughter Gabriella. After being detained in solitary confinement without access to a lawyer, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced to five years in prison in September 2016 after being convicted of “membership of an illegal group” in a grossly unfair trial by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe is presently serving a five-year jail sentence in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. Since being jailed, she has suffered a serious decline in her physical and mental health, something her husband has repeatedly drawn attention to during a high-profile campaign on his wife’s behalf. Her requests for periods of temporary release – for which she is eligible – have been met on only one occasion (last August), followed three days later by a return to jail. Amnesty described her return to jail on 26th August as a “crushing disappointment”. She is suffering from numerous health problems – including severe arm, neck and back pain – and there have been serious concerns over her mental state.
Amnesty has designated Zaghari-Ratcliffe a prisoner of conscience targeted solely for the peaceful exercise of her rights to freedom of expression and association. Amnesty has repeatedly called on the Iranian authorities to release her immediately and unconditionally.
In December, Zaghari-Ratcliffe completed her 1,000th day in detention, and three days prior to that she turned 40 in jail.
Details
Stand Up in the Park takes place in Sophia Gardens on Sunday 7th July at 8.00pm, with the bar open from 7.00pm. Tickets are £18.00 and are available here.
Please help us spread the word by circulating news of this event. You can also take action today by signing the petition here calling for Nazanin’s release.
To get involved or to learn more contact Owen at amnesty.cardiff@btinternet.com
AmnestyCardiff.org 