A British woman is facing up to 20 years in an Iranian prison after criticising the country’s former supreme leader in a Facebook post.
Roya Saberi Negad Nobakht, who is originally from Stockport, Greater Manchester, was visiting friends in the country when she posted comments on Facebook that authorities deemed to be critical to the regime, according to the Daily Mail. She was arrested in Shiraz for making comments about former supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini.
Ms Nobakht holds dual British and Iranian citizenship and has been living in Britain for the past six years.
Upon her arrest, she was accused of putting Iran’s security at risk and gathering crowds.
Ms Nobakht’s husband was not informed of her arrest and had to travel to Iran to search hospitals, mortuaries and police stations for his missing wife.
A source close to the family told the Times: ”She had flew into Shiraz airport to visit a friend when she was arrested. They took her passport and her computer and she was taken to Evin prison where she has been ever since. She told them she was a student but they didn’t believe her.
“When her husband went to the airport to meet her and she didn’t arrive he called friends and family in Iran but nobody knew where she was. He decided to go to Iran to search for her and it took two months.
“He visited mortuaries and hospitals and police stations and eventually he was told she was in prison for not being respectful of Iran. He was allowed to visit her for 10 minutes and has not seen her since. They can speak on the phone but are not able to say much.”