Mehrdad Bakhtiari, Uncle of Justice-Seeking Pouya Bakhtiari, Tried in Karaj Revolutionary Court

Mehrdad Bakhtiari, the uncle of justice-seeker Pouya Bakhtiari, who was killed during the November 2019 protests, was tried on Saturday, February 17, in the first branch of the Karaj Revolutionary Court. According to HRANA, the news agency of human rights activists in Iran, the charges against Mehrdad Bakhtiari include 'propaganda against the regime' and 'assembly and collusion.' This case dates back to July 2022, in which Mehrdad Bakhtiari and Nahid Shirpich, the mother of imprisoned and justice-seeking Pouya Bakhtiari, were jointly accused. Last week, Mehrdad Bakhtiari announced his trial date on the social media platform 'X' by sharing a notification from the Alborz Province judiciary. Pouya Bakhtiari's uncle had previously criticized the pressures on this justice-seeking family, stating, 'The only thing that has been imposed on us, the Bakhtiari family, in these four years is oppression and torment.' Manouchehr Bakhtiari and Nahid Shirpich, the father and mother of Pouya Bakhtiari, are currently imprisoned on charges such as 'assembly and collusion against the regime' and 'propaganda against the regime.' Manouchehr Bakhtiari, incarcerated in Chubin Prison in Qazvin, was recently sentenced to six months in prison for 'insulting the leadership.' This political prisoner, who was arrested in his home in Tehran in 2021, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, two and a half years of exile, and two years of travel ban. Recently, he was also sentenced to 18 years in prison and 74 lashes by the Karaj Revolutionary Court in another case. Saba Bakhtiari, the sister of Manouchehr Bakhtiari, reacted to the case against her brother and the issuance of an 18-year prison sentence and 74 lashes, stating to Voice of America that he has done nothing but seek justice for his child and for the land of Iran, and 'our people's struggle' against the Islamic Republic continues without fear of imprisonment. Several justice-seeking families, coinciding with the fourth anniversary of the November 2019 protests, released a joint statement reminding the deaths of hundreds of protesters at the hands of Iranian government forces, emphasizing that 'November' continues. The deteriorating health of Manouchehr Bakhtiari in prison due to urinary tract obstruction and severe blood pressure drop is a concern for justice-seeking families; Mehrdad Bakhtiari is being tried in the Karaj Revolutionary Court. Justice-seeking families on the fourth anniversary of the protests' suppression: November continues. The anniversary ceremony of Pouya Bakhtiari's birth was held with expressions of 'hope' for the 'rebirth of Iran.'