Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: On Freedom

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe comes to The Assembly Rooms on Thursday 18 February 2027, starting at 7:30pm. She'll be speaking live about her six years in an Iranian prison and her ongoing campaign to free political hostages from Iran and elsewhere.

Her story is one that's been in the news for years, but hearing it from her is something else. She was arrested in March 2016 with no explanation given. Six months later, she was convicted of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government — a charge she denied. During that time, the Iranian authorities confiscated her baby daughter's passport, and she spent months in solitary confinement. She went through further show trials and a fifteen-day hunger strike after being denied medical care, and she was eventually forced to sign a false confession before she was released.

Much of the story is as much about the politics as the prison. For years she became a bargaining chip between governments. Four British foreign secretaries failed to secure her release, including Boris Johnson, whose public mischaracterisation of her work the regime cited against her. It wasn't until a fifth, Liz Truss, that she finally won her freedom, after an outstanding government debt was settled. Throughout it all, her husband Richard campaigned relentlessly, joined her hunger strike, and staged another in front of the Foreign Office.

Now she's speaking live to share that experience first-hand and to talk about her work to free other political hostages. Tickets start from £29.95, and it's at The Assembly Rooms on George Street, 54 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 2LR, on Thursday 18 February at 7:30pm.