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Travel bloggers arrested in Iran named as British and Australian citizens
Travel bloggers arrested in Iran for allegedly flying a drone without a licence near the capital Tehran have been named as British-Australian Jolie King and her Australian partner Mark Firkin.
King is understood to be in the same prison as British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been imprisoned since 2016.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband Richard Ratcliffe told reporters King has been ‘scared, disoriented and intimidated’ while kept in solitary confinement at Evin prison.
Editor of Iranian TV station Manoto said on Twitter that the couple, arrested 10 weeks ago, hadn’t yet been tried.
"The family says this was a misunderstanding and Jolie King & her fiance Mark Firkin were unaware of the Iranian law which bans drone flights without a licence," Mr Zeraati tweeted.
Earlier reports said the couple were arrested while camping near a military area around Jajrood in Tehran province.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) released a statement today from the couple’s families which said: "Our families hope to see Mark and Jolie safely home as soon as possible. We have no further comment to make at this stage and ask that the media respects our privacy at this difficult time."
Ms King, travelling on her Australian passport, and Mr Firkin, had been posting about their travels during their trip, which began in 2017, on their The Way Overland accounts on YouTube and Instagram.
After driving from Perth to Darwin and island-hopping to Asia, they had driven west through countries including India, Pakistan and China before arriving in Iran. They had ultimately planned to finish in the UK.
"Our biggest motivation behind the vlogs is to hopefully inspire anyone wanting to travel, and also try to break the stigma around travelling to countries which get a bad rap in the media," the couple wrote in one early post.
DFAT has been negotiating with Iranian authorities for their release for several weeks.
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office says Australia’s DFAT is handling their case.
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Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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