Appeal Rejected, British Couple to Serve 10 Years for Spying in Iran

JAKARTA - The Iranian court on Tuesday, June 2, rejected an appeal against the 10-year prison sentence for two defendants, a British husband and wife (couple) in the espionage case.

Craig and Lindsay Foreman were sentenced to 10 years in prison in Tehran last year.

The family claims Craig and Lindsay were not allowed to attend the appeal and had little information about the process.

The British family also claimed that the two defendants were asked to sign documents in Farsi which they could not read.

"They are not allowed to attend their own appeals," Lindsay's son, Joe Bennett, said in a statement, quoted by Reuters.

The Iranian judiciary has not responded to the request for confirmation.

Bennett added that the family of the defendant is now taking the case to the Supreme Court of Iran. They then again claimed that the two defendants in the espionage case in Iran did not have legal representation.

As a form of protest, Bennett claimed that the two defendants had carried out a hunger strike.

Previously, the British government, which knew that its citizens were arrested in Iran for espionage, had denied it.

Britain has also continued to press for their release.

However, the family accused the British government of using the two defendants as "human shields" during the conflict in the region earlier this year.

The British Foreign Office has not responded to a request for confirmation on the matter.