Father of Slain Iranian Protester Handed Additional Prison Term

An Iranian court has handed an additional six-month prison sentence to Manouchehr Bakhtiari, a political prisoner incarcerated in the northwestern city of Qazvin, according to a human rights website.

The Qazvin Revolutionary Court issued the sentence on November 1 after convicting Bakhtiari of “insulting” the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, the Harana website said.

Bakhtiari was arrested in Tehran in April 2021 and was subsequently sentenced to three years and a half in prison for “acting against national security” by calling for justice for his 27-year-old son Pouya, who was fatally shot by security forces during protests in Karaj in November 2019. 

Manouchehr Bakhtiari’s wife, Sara Abbasi, has expressed concern over his poor health condition, saying he faces multiple diseases, and claimed he had been denied access to medical treatment and furlough.