Campaigners supporting a UK couple detained in Iran delivered a petition to the government that calls for help to bring the pair home.
Supporters gathered at Parliament Square on Wednesday to spread the word about Lindsay and Craig Foreman’s detention while Lindsay’s son, Joe Bennett, delivered the petition to Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband.
The couple were arrested in January 2025 after being accused of espionage as they travelled through Iran on a worldwide motorbike trip. Their family, along with several UK ministers, have rejected this accusation.
Lindsay’s friend Naomi Connell, who helps run the campaign, said: “What we do, and we’ll continue doing, is we just won’t let anybody forget about them. That’s why we’re here.”
Bennett met MPs in Parliament before joining the supporters outside. Various supporters and MPs then marched from Parliament Square to the Foreign Office to symbolically hand the petition over.
The petition had almost 110,000 signatures at the time of delivery.
Those gathering at Parliament Square included several of the couple’s friends. Paula Reid, 59, described speaking to Lindsay over the phone while Lindsay remained in detention.
“I hear about her and her circumstances all of the time, but to actually speak to her while I was still in bed brought it home. The more you imagine, the harder it gets to cope,” she said.
Other attendees had not met the couple, but still came to support the cause. Anoosheh Ashoori had previously been sent to prison in Iran for charges he denies. He heard Lindsay and Craig’s story on the news and was contacted by campaigners.
“I have lived in that hell for nearly five years, and I know how it feels,” he said.
Whereas biker Dave Harrison, 64, first found the campaign online.
He said: “It’s just one of those things where it could be me. Wrong place, wrong time.”
In a LinkedIn post Lindsay made before being detained, she displayed the route that she and Craig intended to take to the International Positive Psychology Association Conference in Australia, where she would have presented global perspectives on what makes a good life. This included a trip through Iran.
One of Lindsay’s friends said: “It wasn’t that she just went without care or thought. She did actually get a VISA approved, and she had an official guide. She was only going to be going through for a few days to get to Pakistan. This was the quickest route through.”
Since their arrest, the pair have endured solitary confinement and the harsh conditions of Tehran’s infamous Evin Prison. For the first seven months, they were denied contact with their family.
The couple started and ended a hunger strike during a lengthy period of their imprisonment.
On the day the petition was delivered, Labour MP Tony Vaughan used Prime Minister’s Questions to ask Andy Burnham whether he would consider “additional action” to increase pressure on Iran to bring Lindsay and Craig home.
Burnham said: “I agree that Lindsay and Craig’s sentence is appalling and unjustifiable. That is why the Foreign Secretary has raised this case directly with his Iranian counterpart. We will continue to pursue the case relentlessly until Lindsay and Craig are safely returned home to the UK and reunited with their family.”
Bennett commented on Burnham’s response to Vaughan. He said: “It was the same answer that we’ve always got.
“Burnham has now been briefed on it. He’s aware of their situation because he’s been asked about it directly. So, you’ve got to, throughout this campaign, try and take positives.”
Vaughan was one of the MPs who accompanied campaigners as they marched to the Foreign Office. In May, he led an adjournment debate centred on the couple’s detention. He has also mentioned the topic during a Council of Europe debate.
Discussing his role in Bennett’s efforts, Vaughan said: “I’ve been doing whatever I can to advocate for him, Craig and Lindsay to try and push the government to do whatever they can to get Craig and Lindsay home.”
A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “Craig and Lindsay’s health and welfare is a top priority. Since their arrest last year, Britain’s Ambassador to Tehran, along with diplomats and officials in London, have been working to provide consular assistance. This includes the Ambassador visiting them in prison.
“The family of Craig and Lindsay have met with Minister for the Middle East Stephen Doughty alongside the UK’s Envoy for Complex Consular Detentions Alistair Burt. Minister Doughty has set out how unjustified and appalling we consider Lindsay and Craig’s incarceration to be, and the action that the UK Government is taking to try and secure their release.”
Following the petition’s delivery, the family have arranged a meeting with Miliband to discuss the issue further.
Bennett said: “We don’t want the next meeting to be another meet and greet. Everyone knows about the situation. Let’s tackle the hard questions.”
The petition demanding government action to help free Lindsay and Craig can be found on Change.org. There is also a GoFundMe page where those interested can donate to their family.
Featured image credit: Keir Holmes
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