Manouchehr Bakhtiari, a prisoner seeking justice, sentenced to six months in prison for 'insulting the leader'

Manouchehr Bakhtiari, the father of activist Pouya Bakhtiari, who was killed during the November 2019 protests, has been sentenced to an additional six months in prison while incarcerated. According to the news agency of human rights activists, the first branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Qazvin sentenced Manouchehr Bakhtiari, the father of the slain protester, in a case opened against him during his imprisonment, to six months in prison for 'insulting the leader' of the Islamic Republic. This ruling was issued by the first branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Qazvin on Wednesday, November 1. Saba Bakhtiari, Manouchehr Bakhtiari's sister, stated in an interview with VOA on November 3 about her brother's conditions over the past four years in prison that his situation is unfavorable, and judicial authorities are not only opposing his release but are also fabricating new charges against this political prisoner. Previously, Manouchehr Bakhtiari's court session was held via video conference in late October. Manouchehr Bakhtiari is the father of Pouya Bakhtiari, one of the victims of the nationwide protests in November 2019, who was killed by a direct shot from Islamic Republic forces. In addition to the imprisonment of this protester's father, his mother, Nahid Shirpich, is also imprisoned in Zanjan. As the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death approaches, a memorial ceremony for Pouya Bakhtiari's 31st birthday was held at his grave with the presence of several family members and civil activists, where his uncle Mehrdad Bakhtiari, in a message that began with 'In the name of Iran,' stated that this 'martyr of the path to freedom' lies in the soil, while his parents are imprisoned for seeking justice for their child's blood. Previously, human rights activist Pouran Nazemi emphasized the necessity of not remaining silent against pressure on justice seekers, stating that Islamic Republic forces 'monitor society' and that if 'we do not raise our voices today,' they will go after other justice seekers and fabricate cases against them, as they are currently doing with parents who 'have not yet passed a year since their children's blood was shed.' She added, 'Do not politicize seeking justice; everyone has an opinion, and after the fall of the Islamic Republic, everyone will cast their vote in the ballot box, but right now, our red line should be the justice seekers.' Pouran Nazemi also stated that if we remain silent against the Islamic Republic's agents and the fabrication of cases against justice-seeking families, 'we have betrayed the blood of our lost loved ones.'