Iranian poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin, critic of the Tehran regime, died in prison after contracting Covid-19, several human rights organizations announced on Saturday January 8.

"Baktash Abtin is dead," lamented the Iranian Writers' Association (IWA) on its Telegram channel, after Baktash Abtin had been plunged into a coma earlier this week.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) confirmed his death on Twitter, denouncing the responsibility of the Iranian authorities, who had condemned Baktash Abtin in 2019 for "propaganda against the regime" and "publication of an illegal newspaper on Facebook", according to RSF.

#Iran: RSF learned with sadness the death of #Baktash_Abtine.

The writer and #journalist had been unjustly sentenced to 6 years in prison and was in detention in hospital, ill with # Covid19 & deprived of the necessary care.

RSF blames the high regime's authorities for his death.

pic.twitter.com/zNZ2l0rw1v

- RSF (@RSF_inter) January 8, 2022

With AFP

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