Lindsay Foreman, a British woman sentenced to 10 years in prison by an Iranian court, has described her detention as an 'endurance test for the mind' and maintained her innocence on espionage charges. Speaking from Evin prison in Tehran before her sentencing alongside her husband Craig, she said she only wanted justice and fairness under the Iranian constitution.
The couple were arrested in January last year during a five-day trip across Iran en route to Australia. They appeared in court in Tehran last autumn. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned their sentence as 'completely appalling and totally unjustifiable'.
Foreman said she and her husband had resorted to writing letters and going on hunger strike in a desperate bid for justice. She wrote to Iranian authorities urging them to follow their own legal procedures, arguing that their treatment was unfair. 'We have done what we can to be respectful of their system, to be patient with the legal process and believing that our innocence will prevail, but it doesn't seem to be the case,' she said.
She acknowledged travelling to Iran against Foreign Office advice but questioned how overland trips could pass through the region given the lack of an easy route. Despite her ordeal, she expressed a desire to find unity and humanity, stating, 'I do not want conflict between our government or any government.'
Lindsay's son, Joe Bennett, said Iranian authorities had presented no evidence of spying and called on the British government to 'act decisively and use every available avenue' to secure their release. Alicia Kearns, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on arbitrary detention, criticised the government for not taking firm action, noting that other countries like France had initiated legal proceedings at the International Court of Justice.
The couple are held in separate wings of Evin prison, the same facility where British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained. The prison has become more overcrowded after a wave of arrests during protests in January. Foreman acknowledged being on an emotional rollercoaster but said she felt lucky for the life she had before her arrest, adding, 'hopefully one day for me it will end.'
