Skip to Content

Jailed Iranian poet Baktash Abtin dies due to Covid-19

By Mohammed Tawfeeq and Ramin Mostaghim, CNN

Jailed Iranian poet and documentary filmmaker Baktash Abtin has died in detention in a hospital after falling ill with Covid-19 aged 48, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Center for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI).

Abtin was in prison on charges of “propaganda against the state” and “actions against national security.”

“RSF learned with sadness the death of Baktash Abtine,” RSF said on Twitter on Saturday. “The writer and journalist had been unjustly sentenced to six years in prison and was in detention in hospital, ill with Covid-19 and deprived of the necessary care. RSF blames the high regime’s authorities for his death.”

US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday urged Iranian authorities in a joint letter signed by several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to give Abtin the “best possible medical care” and called for “he and all those unjustly detained for their writing or expression to be immediately and unconditionally released.”

According to HRW, Abtin was put into a medically induced coma on January 1, when HRW said he was continuing “to fight his most recent Covid infection and remains in grave danger.”

On May 15, 2019, Abtin was sentenced to five years imprisonment on charges of “illegal assembly and collusion against national security” and one year for “spreading propaganda against the state.” He began serving his six-year sentence on September 26, 2020, according to the Iranian Writers Association (IWA) in a statement published on its website.

Abtin dedicated his life “to promote freedom of speech and denounce censorship in Iran, and has published numerous books on history, sociology, and literary criticism,” IWA said.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

Article Topic Follows: CNN - Style

Jump to comments ↓

CNN Newsource

BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION

KTVZ NewsChannel 21 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation.

Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here

If you would like to share a story idea, please submit it here.

Skip to content