The writer and filmmaker died after contracting Covid-19 in prison. Opponents of the Iranian regime blame the authorities for delaying his transfer to a hospital.
Iranian dissident poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin died in hospital after contracting Covid-19 in Evin prison in Tehran. Writers and human rights organizations accuse the regime of being responsible for his death by restricting his access to medical care.
“The Anti-Freedom Regime Assassinated Our Courageous and Prominent Member Bektash Abtin”, wrote the Iranian Writers Association (IWA) on Saturday January 8 on its Telegram channel. In its press release, the IWA accuses the prison authorities of having organized his death by delaying his transfer to hospital, after he contracted the coronavirus in prison. “The illness and stress of the first ten days of hospitalization, imposed by security agents, destroyed Abtin’s body”, regretted the association.
Several human rights organizations, including Reporters Without Borders, have held the Tehran regime responsible.
Inquiry requested
In the Iranian capital, only a few reformist newspapers reported on his death, publishing a press release from the judicial authority on his condition in the last days of his hospitalization. “After two days of
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