Peter and Barbie Reynolds were due to appear in court on Thursday but the trial was halted at the last minute while a new judge was found, their daughter has said
The daughter of an elderly British couple says she fears for her father’s health after they were arrested and thrown in prison by the Taliban. Peter Reynolds, 79, and wife Barbie run a training business in the country and were detained when they travelled to their home in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province.
They were due to appear in court on Thursday but the trial was halted at the last minute while a new judge was found. Now their daughter Sarah Entwistle fears for her parents, saying they are being held in “brutal” conditions which she likened it to “what I imagine hell is like”.
Previously Mrs Reynolds, 75, was able to phone her family from Pul-e-Charki prison in Kabul to tell them a court date had been set. She said in a voicemail: “We don’t even know what the charges are against us. We will hear the charges for the first time then.”
The couple have been running projects in schools in Afghanistan for 18 years, including an educational project for mothers and children in Bamiyan, one of the largest cities in central Afghanistan.
The pair decided to stay in the country after the Taliban seized power in 2021, but there is now a ban on women working and on female education beyond primary school. Their work had reportedly been approved by the Bamiyan local authority.
Ms Entwistle feared her parents would not get a fair trial because their interpreter Juya, who was arrested alongside them, is also due in court on Thursday and will not be allowed to translate during the proceedings.
She said: “Mum is obviously extremely concerned that without a competent interpreter, their case cannot be accurately or fairly represented and [they] will not be able to properly follow or engage in the proceedings, in serious breach of their rights.”
At the weekend, Ms Entwistle said her father’s life was in danger after his health deteriorated. She told the Guardian: “We remain extremely concerned for Dad in particular. Without access to the medication he needs, his continued detention poses a serious risk to his life. Again, we ask the Taliban to release Dad, Mum, Faye and the interpreter as a gesture of goodwill during this season of Ramadan.”
The couple were arrested on February 1, with Juya and an American-Chinese friend, Faye Hall, who had rented a plane to travel with them. At the time an employee for Rebuild, the couple’s training company, was informed that their flight “did not coordinate with the local government”.
Ms Entwistle said her parents had been kept away from each other by their prison guards. “Mum’s health is rapidly deteriorating, and she is collapsing due to malnutrition. She and the other women are provided only one meal a day, while the men receive three,” Ms Entwistle said. “Dad’s health is also still declining, and he’s experiencing tremors in his head and left arm.”
About their court appearance on Thursday, she added that her parents “spent four hours sitting on the floor, chained to other prisoners, before being returned to the prison. She said: “At the last minute, they were informed that they would not be seen by the judge. The guards indicated that a different judge would now be handling the case, and we continue to hope they will receive a fair hearing in the coming week.”
