Hojjat Badaghi Summoned for 'Serving Prison Sentence' to the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office

Hojjat Badaghi, a writer and poet, announced his summons to the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office. Mr. Badaghi shared the summons on his Instagram account, which requests him to appear within five days to 'serve his prison sentence and understand additional penalties.' The summons states that 'failure to appear within the specified time will result in arrest.' Along with this summons, he shared a poem by Hafez that says: 'We have tested our fortune in this city, we must pull our belongings out of this abyss, from so much biting my hand and sighing, I set fire like a flower to my own body.' In another post on Instagram, Hojjat Badaghi wrote that his son fears him becoming 'like Bakhtash.' Mr. Badaghi refers to Bakhtash Abtin, an Iranian poet and writer who died in a hospital on January 7, 2022, due to the negligence of Evin prison officials regarding his deteriorating health after contracting COVID-19. However, judicial authorities denied the accusation of negligence regarding his illness. Hojjat Badaghi states: 'For a long time now, whenever I want to leave the house, Tahmoures asks me where I’m going, Dad?... I say outside, I have work... He asks, will you come back soon?... I say, what do you care, my dear!... He says nothing, just come back soon... and then with some hesitation, he says, don’t become like Bakhtash...' Mr. Badaghi added: 'Damn me for my son suffering from the phobia of his father becoming like Bakhtash... Damn me for my child not seeing any sign of me walking proudly, living in fear that I won’t be killed. Yesterday until now, I explained a hundred times, no, my dear... I won’t become like Bakhtash... I’ll be back home soon.' Following widespread protests in Iran, the pressure from the Islamic Republic on various segments of society, especially those in culture and art, has increased, and in recent months, several writers, poets, artists, and filmmakers have been arrested and imprisoned. The Iranian Writers' Association: The lives of 13 political prisoners transferred to Qezel Hessar prison are in danger. Sepideh Ghalean: In Iran, its poets sing the song of freedom in the streets and go to meet bullets in hope of a new day. The American PEN Association supported imprisoned writers and artists in Iran. Bakhtash Abtin, in a video released on the anniversary of his birth: I want my life to end 'bravely.' Bakhtash Abtin, a imprisoned writer and poet, died in the hospital.