Iran Regime Is Responsible for Baktash Abtin’s Deteriorating Condition by Refusing to Release Prisoners During Coronavirus Pandemic

Repeated Calls by Iranian Resistance for Temporary Release of Prisoners During Pandemic To Prevent a Catastrophe

The Iranian Resistance blames the clerical regime for the dire deterioration of the condition of political prisoner Baktash Abtin because not only did the mullahs refuse to temporarily release prisoners during the Coronavirus Pandemic, but they also disrupted the treatment of prisoners and prevented their transfer to hospitals. Prison officials delayed Mr. Abtin’s transfer to the hospital for several days after he was diagnosed with Coronavirus and his critical condition. Mr. Abtin has been in prison since September 2020.

In the last two years and since the first weeks of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Iranian Resistance demanded prisoners’ temporary release hundreds of times. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), emphasized on March 11, 2020, that due to the inhuman conditions of the prisons, prisoners, especially political prisoners, must be released immediately without any bail or conditions. Otherwise, the outbreak will cause a humanitarian catastrophe in prisons. On March 26, 2020, she also emphasized that refusing the temporary release of the prisoners constitutes a significant crime against humanity by the mullahs’ regime. She repeatedly called for the international community to intervene to secure the release of prisoners.

The Iranian Resistance wishes Mr. Abtin a speedy recovery and calls on the United Nations and relevant agencies to take immediate action to remove any restrictions on his treatment. It again calls for an international delegation to investigate the situation in Iran’s prisons and the appalling conditions imposed on prisoners given the Coronavirus pandemic.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)

January 6, 2022