By Olivia Le Poidevin
GENEVA, June 17 (Reuters) – U.N. experts on Wednesday expressed grave concern for two Britons convicted in Iran of espionage who are now on hunger strike in jail.
Craig and Lindsay Foreman were sentenced to 10 years in prison in February on espionage charges, which they deny. Their family said a failed appeal hearing this month had been conducted without their knowledge, and they had been given little information about the process.
Two independent human rights experts, U.N. special rapporteurs Alice Jill Edwards and Mai Sato, said Lindsay Foreman had been refusing food for more than 30 days, and her husband Craig for more than 20.
“After 30 days without food, this is a medical emergency,” the experts said in a statement.
“Lindsay and Craig Foreman should not be in prison,” they added. “They appear to have been wrongfully detained, prosecuted on highly questionable grounds, and sentenced after proceedings that failed to meet basic fair trial guarantees.”
The experts had written to Iranian authorities in April to decry what they said was a pattern of foreign nationals being detained for political purposes.
The Iranian mission in Geneva did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the allegations.
Britain has called the Foremans’ sentence “totally unjustifiable” and pledged to keep pressing for their release. The family have criticised the government’s response, however, saying that the couple are being used as “human shields” during conflict in the region.
(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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