Britain joins fight to save jailed Aussie academic Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert
Britain is ramping up efforts to help save jailed Melbourne Islamic Studies expert Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who has been languishing in a tiny cell at a notorious Iran jail.
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Britain is stepping up pressure on Iran for the release of Australian academic Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, saying it was “unacceptable and outrageous” that she is languishing in a notorious Tehran jail.
The University of Melbourne Islamic Studies expert has been sentenced to 10 years’ jail on spying charges, which she has strongly denied.
She remains in the solitary confinement unit 2A of the prison and is on track to break a record for the longest time in the harsh conditions in the 3m by 2m cells.
Dominic Raab, Britain’s foreign secretary, told Sky News Australia that the UK had been appealing to the Iranian government for them to free the dual UK-Australian national.
“At every point of engagement with the Iranian government we raise all of these cases, we raise all of the cases,” he told Laura Jayes on Sky News.
“We are making it very clear to Tehran that the detention of all dual nationals is unacceptable and outrageous.
“It’s one element of the unlawful behaviour by the regime in Tehran which needs to end if they are going to end their political and economic isolation.”
Mr Raab added that Iran’s isolation would “only get worse” if they continue to lock up people “without grounds on a political whim”.
He said he was working with the Australian Government on Dr Moore-Gilbert’s case.
The UK also has British woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in the prison, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Mr Raab meeting with her husband Richard and five year old daughter Gabriella last month to discuss the case.
Mr Raab has been in Australia to lay the groundwork for a new free trade deal between Australia and the UK and spoke of the “exciting opportunity” because of the countries shared values.
The deal is one of Mr Johnson’s top four trade deals, along with the United States, Japan and New Zealand.
Mr Raab also said that Britain’s decision to use Chinese company Huawei on its 5G network, in contrast to Australia’s decision to ban them, showed there was a “market failure”.
But he rejected concerns that it compromised national security amid complaints from the United States that Huawei could be used as a front for Chinese government spying.
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Dr Moore-Gilbert was arrested in 2018 and has gone on at least five hunger strikes in protest of her treatment.
News Corp Australia broke the story of her Christmas Eve hunger strike, publishing details of a letter that was smuggled out of the prison.
She had pleaded with Prime Minister Scott Morrison to get her out.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne raised her case with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at a meeting in India last month.
Originally published as Britain joins fight to save jailed Aussie academic Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert