Jailed Iranian poet Baktash Abtin dies of Covid

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

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.