BRITAIN does “nowhere near enough” to help its wrongfully imprisoned citizens, Amnesty International UK said today after a new BBC drama told of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori’s years-long ordeals in Iran.

Ministers’ failure to stand up to authoritarianism and corruption was laid bare as the four-part show Prisoner 951 aired on Sunday night.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Mr Ashoori were released in 2022 after campaigning from both of their families and the support of human rights organisations including Amnesty International. 

Amnesty International UK’s Felix Jakens stressed that the family heartbreak shown in Prisoner 951 “was based on real life and continues to be a reality for many British nationals unjustly imprisoned overseas. 

“The screenplay underscores how the UK government did — and continues to do — nowhere near enough to help secure the release of Britons arbitrarily detained abroad, dragging its heels when asked to stand up for its citizens when wrongfully imprisoned in Iran and beyond. 

“We’re seeing similar stories play out right now. 

“Like with British national Ahmed Al-Doush, a father of four from Manchester, who is currently languishing in a Saudi jail after being arrested while on holiday for serious charges based on exercising his fundamental right to free expression, including for social media posts. 

“The UK government has repeatedly failed to advocate for Ahmed, not taking a position on his case despite being provided with information indicating that Ahmed’s rights under international law are being violated, and that his detention is a freedom of expression case. 

“The UK government must urgently design a strategy that is fit for purpose for those unlucky enough to be locked up for no good reason while abroad. Failing to do this is a clear betrayal of the UK and its people.” 

Amnesty International says that any new strategy must as a minimum include the government calling for an arbitrarily detained person’s immediate release, pressing for access to a lawyer, a fair trial and medical care where relevant, demanding consular access, insisting that British officials be able to attend trials and regularly meeting with family members to outline the government’s overall approach in the case.  

The Foreign Office was contacted for comment.