Australia

Britain’s Johnson to meet husband of wife jailed in Iran

Richard Ratcliffe will meet Foreign Secretary in fight to secure his wife's release He also wan..

Published

5 years ago

November 15, 2017

Europe Disk

Richard Ratcliffe will meet Foreign Secretary in fight to secure his wife's release
He also wants Mr Johnson to take him to Iran to see Nazanin and his daughter
Mr Johnson apologised on Monday for causing her ‘anguish and distress’
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was visiting her family when she was arrested in Iran
She was jailed and her husband Richard said she is on the verge of a breakdown

By Martin Robinson, Uk Chief Reporter For Mailonline

Published: 01:01 EST, 15 November 2017 | Updated: 04:10 EST, 15 November 2017

Boris Johnson will finally meet the husband of jailed British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe to discuss the possibility of her being offered 'diplomatic protection' as part of efforts to secure her release and return from Iran.

Richard Ratcliffe believes a change in the status of his wife's case would allow ministers to act 'much more stridently' to support her.

Mr Ratcliffe is expected to raise the continued coverage of Mr Johnson's comments in the Iranian media and will seek to clarify the position on any new charges she faces.

He also wants the Foreign Secretary to take him to Iran so he can see his wife and daughter Gabriella for the first time in 18 months.

Mr Johnson apologised on Monday for causing her ‘anguish and distress’ as he admitted making mistakes in his handling of her case.

Richard Ratcliffe is meeting Boris Johnson about securing the release of his wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, pictured with their daughter Gabriella, who is also 'suffering' badly

Boris Johnson runs across Whitehall today ahead of his crunch meeting with Mr Ratcliffe

The Foreign Secretary has faced calls to resign over claims that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe could have her jail time increased after he wrongly said she had gone to the country to train journalists.

The Foreign Secretary (pictured today) has faced calls to resign over claims that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe could have her jail time increased

But Labour withdrew its demands for him to quit after her husband warned this would not help her case.

Richard Ratcliffe also revealed Iran had been looking at extending her sentence before Mr Johnson’s gaffe, telling ITV News: ‘In fairness, there were hints of new charges before he made the comments.’

The Foreign Secretary is to meet Mr Ratcliffe tomorrow to discuss the possibility of his wife being offered ‘diplomatic protection’ in an attempt to secure her freedom.

Summoned to the Commons, Mr Johnson told MPs: ‘Of course I apologise for the distress and suffering caused by the impression I gave that the Government believe, and I believe, that she was there in a professional capacity. She was there on holiday. I do apologise, and of course I retract any suggestion that she was there in a professional capacity.’

Urging Iran once more to release Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe on humanitarian grounds, Mr Johnson said: ‘Iran’s regime and no one else has chosen to separate this mother from her infant daughter for reasons that even they find it difficult to explain or describe.’

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 38, was arrested in Tehran in April last year and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for working against the Iranian regime, a charge she denies.

Her husband has campaigned for her release, insisting she was on holiday with their 18-month-old daughter Gabriella so the child could meet her grandparents in Iran.

Despite her family pleading for help from the Foreign Office for more than 18 months, Mr Johnson told the foreign affairs committee earlier this month she had been training journalists in Iran.

The Iranian state broadcaster said this amounted to an ‘unintended admission’ of her guilt.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was visiting her parents in Iran with her young daughter Gabriella when she was arrested by the Revolutionary Guard in Tehran Airport

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has apologised and said: 'My remarks should have been clearer' after his gaffe wrongly suggested she was in Iran training journalists not on holiday

Mr Ratcliffe said his wife is ‘on the verge of a nervous breakdown’ and angry at the Foreign Secretary for allowing the situation to become ‘a shambles’.

20 female Iranian inmates step in to support bereft Briton arrested on holiday

Iranian female political prisoners and human rights activists in the same jail as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe have stepped in to support her, it was revealed today.

The mother-of-one is said to be on the verge of a breakdown after being arrested while on holiday visiting her parents with her daughter.

Her husband Richard said women including Narges Mohammadi in the Evin jail (pictured), which is known as 'Evin University' due to the number of academics, journalists and other professionals housed there, are supporting her.

Mr Ratcliffe told the Evening Standard: 'A few of [the women] have been there for a very long time and make sure that everyone is kept busy.

'The easiest thing to do is to lie on your mattress feeling sorry for yourself. They sat her down and said why don't you teach English to the other prisoners. So she does that once a week.

'It's a way that everybody can contribute. They have a cleaning rota, they do craft work. This is experienced women saying 'we will be strong' and 'stand up for yourselves'.

'I am thankful for all they have done for Nazanin to remind her of the kindness in Iranian culture, and the hope to survive.'

He said her mood was ‘uncontrollable’ and revealed that she had experienced pain in her breasts and been taken to hospital for an ultrasound, which found lumps. The mother-of-one has a family history of breast cancer and a former cellmate described seeing her hair falling out in ‘huge clumps’.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 38, was seen by a specialist in Tehran on Saturday. The consultant said he thought the lumps were likely to be benign but added that some cancers were linked to stress, her husband said.

She was arrested in Tehran in April 2016 and sentenced to five years imprisonment for working against the Iranian regime, a charge she has always denied.

Her husband has campaigned for her release and has insisted she was on holiday with their 18-month-old daughter Gabriella so the child could meet her grandparents in Iran.

Despite her family pleading for help from the Foreign Office for more than 18 months, Mr Johnson told the foreign affairs committee she had been training journalists in Iran – comments which the state broadcaster said amounted to an ‘unintended admission’ of her guilt.

Mr Johnson later phoned his Iranian counterpart to say Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was there on holiday and said his comments could not be used to justify further charges or penalties against her.

Yesterday, Mr Ratcliffe said he had had a ‘positive’ 20-minute phone call with Mr Johnson, in which the Foreign Secretary had promised to meet him within the next few days.

He said Mr Johnson had also promised he would seriously consider Mr Ratcliffe’s request to accompany him when he makes an official visit to Tehran later this year.

Mr Ratcliffe, an accountant from Hampstead in North London, said he had spoken to his wife yesterday.

He said: ‘She has been very angry for a number of days. Her mood has become uncontrollable. She loses her temper over the smallest things.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is pictured with her husband Richard who is desperate to see her back home with their three-year-old for Christmas

‘She expressed anger at the guards, but also at the Foreign Secretary, that it had become such a shambles. Angry at the original comments, angry at the footage of avoiding the question.’

Mr Ratcliffe said Mr Johnson had told him he was ‘deeply sorry for Nazanin’s suffering’, but did not say if the Foreign Secretary had made a personal apology for his blunder.

The family’s local MP Tulip Siddiq told Sky News that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had sobbed inconsolably during an earlier phone call with her husband, saying: ‘She just said that she couldn’t believe that Boris Johnson would make those comments.

‘This is life or death. This is a young mother who could die if the Foreign Secretary doesn’t retract his comments promptly, if he doesn’t go to Iran and get her back.’

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Australia

Australia: Scott Morrison saga casts scrutiny on Queen’s representative

Published

5 months ago

August 27, 2022

Europe Disk

In the past fortnight, Australia has been gripped by revelations that former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison secretly appointed himself to several additional ministries.

The move has been labelled a “power grab” by his successor as prime minister, and Mr Morrison has been scolded by many – even his own colleagues.

But the scandal has also dragged Australia’s governor-general into the fray – sparking one of the biggest controversies involving the Queen’s representative in Australia in 50 years.

So does Governor-General David Hurley have questions to answer, or is he just collateral damage?

‘Just paperwork’

Governors-general have fulfilled the practical duties as Australia’s head of state since the country’s 1901 federation.

Candidates for the role were initially chosen by the monarch but are now recommended by the Australian government.

The job is largely ceremonial – a governor-general in almost every circumstance must act on the advice of the government of the day. But conventions allow them the right to “encourage” and “warn” politicians.

Key duties include signing bills into law, issuing writs for elections, and swearing in ministers.

Mr Hurley has run into trouble on the latter. At Mr Morrison’s request, he swore the prime minister in as joint minister for health in March 2020, in case the existing minister became incapacitated by Covid.

Over the next 14 months, he also signed off Mr Morrison as an additional minister in the finance, treasury, home affairs and resources portfolios.

Mr Morrison already had ministerial powers, so Mr Hurley was basically just giving him authority over extra departments.

It’s a request the governor-general “would not have any kind of power to override or reject”, constitutional law professor Anne Twomey tells the BBC.

“This wasn’t even a meeting between the prime minister and the governor-general, it was just paperwork.”

But Mr Morrison’s appointments were not publicly announced, disclosed to the parliament, or even communicated to most of the ministers he was job-sharing with.

Australia’s solicitor-general found Mr Morrison’s actions were not illegal but had “fundamentally undermined” responsible government.

But the governor-general had done the right thing, the solicitor-general said in his advice this week.

It would have been “a clear breach” for him to refuse the prime minister, regardless of whether he knew the appointments would be kept secret, Stephen Donaghue said.

Critics push for investigation

Ultimately, Mr Hurley had to sign off on Mr Morrison’s requests, but critics say he could have counselled him against it and he could have publicised it himself.

But representatives for the governor-general say these types of appointments – giving ministers the right to administer other departments – are not unusual.

And it falls to the government of the day to decide if they should be announced to the public. They often opt not to.

Mr Hurley himself announcing the appointments would be unprecedented. He had “no reason to believe that appointments would not be communicated”, his spokesperson said.

Emeritus professor Jenny Hocking finds the suggestion Mr Hurley didn’t know the ministries had been kept secret “ridiculous”.

“The last of these bizarre, duplicated ministry appointments… were made more than a year after the first, so clearly by then the governor-general did know that they weren’t being made public,” she says.

“I don’t agree for a moment that the governor-general has a lot of things on his plate and might not have noticed.”

The historian says it’s one of the biggest controversies surrounding a governor-general since John Kerr caused a constitutional crisis by sacking Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1975.

Prof Hocking famously fought for transparency around that matter – waging a lengthy and costly legal battle that culminated in the release of Mr Kerr’s correspondence with the Queen.

And she says the same transparency is needed here.

The Australian public need to know whether Mr Hurley counselled the prime minister against the moves, and why he didn’t disclose them

The government has already announced an inquiry into Mr Morrison’s actions, but she wants it to look at the governor-general and his office too.

“If the inquiry is to find out what happened in order to fix what happened, it would be extremely problematic to leave out a key part of that equation.”

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull – Mr Morrison’s predecessor – has also voiced support for an inquiry.

“Something has gone seriously wrong at Government House,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“It is the passive compliance along the chain… that did undermine our constitution and our democracy… that troubles me the most. This is how tyranny gets under way.”

PM defends governor-general

Prof Twomey says the criticism of Mr Hurley is unfair – there’s was no “conspiracy” on his part to keep things secret.

“I don’t think it’s reasonable for anyone to expect that he could have guessed that the prime minister was keeping things secret from his own ministers, for example.

“Nobody really thought that was a possibility until about two weeks ago.”

Even if he had taken the unprecedented step to publicise the appointments or to reject Mr Morrison’s request, he’d have been criticised, she says.

“There’d be even more people saying ‘how outrageous!'” she says. “The role of governor-general is awkward because people are going to attack you either way.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also defended Mr Hurley, saying he was just doing his job.

“I have no intention of undertaking any criticism of [him].”

A role fit for purpose?

Prof Hocking says it’s a timely moment to look at the role of the governor-general more broadly.

She points out it’s possible the Queen may have been informed about Mr Morrison’s extra ministries when Australia’s parliament and people were not.

“It does raise questions about whether this is fit for purpose, as we have for decades been a fully independent nation, but we still have… ‘the relics of colonialism’ alive and well.”

Momentum for a fresh referendum on an Australian republic has been growing and advocates have seized on the controversy.

“The idea that the Queen and her representative can be relied upon to uphold our system of government has been debunked once and for all,” the Australian Republic Movement’s Sandy Biar says.

“It’s time we had an Australian head of state, chosen by Australians and accountable to them to safeguard and uphold Australia’s constitution.”

But Prof Twomey says republicans are “clutching at straws” – under their proposals, the head of state would also have been bound to follow the prime minister’s advice.

“It wouldn’t result in any changes that would have made one iota of difference.”

Read from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-62683210

Australia

Australia election: PM Morrison’s security team in car crash in Tasmania

Published

10 months ago

April 16, 2022

Europe Disk

A car carrying the Australian prime minister’s security team has crashed in Tasmania during an election campaign visit.

Four police officers were taken to hospital with “non-life threatening injuries” after the car and another vehicle collided, authorities said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison was not in the car, but the accident prompted him to cancel the rest of his campaign events on Thursday.

The other driver involved was not hurt.

Tasmania Police said initial investigations suggested the second car had “collided with the rear of the police vehicle, while attempting to merge”. It caused the unmarked security vehicle to roll off the road.

The two Tasmania Police officers and two Australian Federal Police officers were conscious when taken to hospital for medical assessment, the prime minister’s office said.

“Family members of the officers have been contacted and are being kept informed of their condition,” a statement said.

“The PM is always extremely grateful for the protection provided by his security team and extends his best wishes for their recovery and to their families.”

Australians go to the polls on 21 May. Mr Morrison – prime minister since 2018 – is hoping to win his conservative coalition’s fourth term in office.

Polls suggest the opposition Labor Party, led by Anthony Albanese, is favoured to win. However, Mr Morrison defied similar polling to claim victory at the last election in 2019.

Mr Morrison’s Liberal-National coalition holds 76 seats in the House of Representatives – the minimum needed to retain power.

Political observers say the cost of living, climate change, trust in political leaders, and national security will be among key issues in the campaign.

In recent weeks, the prime minister has faced accusations of being a bully and once sabotaging a rival’s career by suggesting the man’s Lebanese heritage made him less electable. Mr Morrison has denied the allegations.

Mr Albanese stumbled into his own controversy this week when he failed to recall the nation’s unemployment or interest rates.

Read from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-61103987

Australia

Sydney airport warns delays could last weeks on third day of travel chaos

Published

10 months ago

April 9, 2022

Europe Disk

Long queues at Sydney airport’s domestic terminals have continued for a third day, with some passengers missing international connections, as the airport warns delays resulting from a surge in travellers and a shortfall in security staff could continue for weeks.

Chaotic scenes were reported in the departure halls as early as 4.30am on Saturday, with some frustrated travellers, many of whom heeded the pleas of airport chiefs to arrive at least two hours before their domestic flight was due to take off, claiming only one security line was operating.

While the queues that formed early on Saturday are understood to have cleared later in the morning, the airport apologised to affected travellers.

“Traffic numbers are picking up and the close contact rules are making it hard to fill shifts and staff the airport. We appreciate your patience,” Sydney airport said on its Twitter account.

A wave of families travelling as the term two school holidays begin this weekend, combined with close contact rules that are understood to be taking out about 20% of security shifts in any given day, are driving the problem.

Certis, the company that Sydney airport contracts for its security operations, is desperately trying to recruit personnel, while the airport has reallocated back office, IT and retail workers to the departure hall to comb queues so they can prioritise passengers at risk of missing their flight.

“We are working around the clock to resolve these issues and have teams in the terminals bringing passengers forward in order of priority,” a Sydney airport spokesperson said.

He added that the airport is “anticipating it will [be] busy right through the school holiday period and peak over the Easter and Anzac Day weekends, in some cases at 90% of pre-Covid passenger levels”.

“We’re deeply grateful to passengers for their ongoing patience and we’re sorry to everyone who has been inconvenienced,” the spokesperson said. “We would also like to thank passengers for getting to the airport early and treating staff and each other with kindness and respect.”

The Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce was forced to clarify comments he made on Friday that passengers were “not match fit” and that those forgetting to remove laptops and aerosols from their bags at the security check contributing to the delays.

“Just to be clear, I’m not ‘blaming’ passengers,” Joyce said. “Of course it’s not their fault,” he said.

Qantas shed thousands of staff during the pandemic, and outsourced ground crews in a decision that was challenged in court.

On Saturday, Qantas also apologised to a Melbourne family left stranded in Sydney, after domestic flight delays caused them to miss an international trip.

Javiera Martinez, her partner Daniel Capurro and their three children were supposed to be flying to Chile on Friday to visit relatives they had not seen in three years.

But after their 8am Qantas flight from Melbourne was delayed by half an hour, baggage handling and airport transfer delays in Sydney meant they couldn’t make their 11.30am LATAM Airlines flight to Santiago.

Martinez said the airline’s procedures at the airport were chaotic.

“We think Qantas didn’t behave appropriately. I got berated by the person at the counter – they never apologised, they never assumed any responsibility at all,” she said. “It was a rude conversation. We have been mistreated badly I would say.”

The PCR tests they need to travel have now expired and they will have to take them again as they wait for seats on the next flight to Santiago from Sunday.

The airline has apologised and paid for a night’s accommodation in Sydney.

“We sincerely apologise that the family missed their connecting flight on another airline due to delays moving through Sydney airport on Friday,” a Qantas spokesperson said.

The family is among many affected by hold ups amid the busiest travel period in two years, with Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane airports warning passengers to arrive two hours before domestic flights.

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