Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in his Instagram post on Saturday congratulated Narges Kalbasi Ashtari on having being acquitted of all charges against her, and hailed her patience and perseverance, as well as the efforts of Iranian officials and popular campaigns in support of her.
Foreign Minister Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi also issued a statement on Saturday in which he voiced his happiness that the ceaseless efforts of the Iranian diplomatic apparatus with Zarif at the head of it have yielded good results and Ms. Ashtari was acquitted of all charges against her.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran has an inherent duty to protect the welfare and rights of all Iranian nationals residing abroad, and will continue the same policy with even more fervor in the new year,” Ghasemi stressed.
Narges Ashtari, the benevolent Iranian-British woman who left the comfort of West to help the underprivileged children in India, wrote in her Telegram channel today that the ruling of the Appeals Court in Rayagada has acquitted her of all charges and declared her innocent.
“The court’s ruling has stated that I can seek judicial relief for all the difficulties they have caused me during this time,” she added.
Foreing Minister Zarif had been personally involved in Ms. Kalbasi’s case in his latest trip to India and held talks with high level Indian officials regarding her.
Top Iranian celebrities as well as some Indian actors had also asked for the freedom of Narges.
In 2014, when Narges had set an excursion for her blind children, a child who was not part of her children’s home and was tagged along by his parents to the picnic, went missing.
After the disappearance of that healthy 5-year-old boy, the Rayagada court found Narges guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced her to a year in jail and $4,300 in fines.
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