Pressure on Families Seeking Justice; Mehrdad Bakhtiari to be Tried in Karaj Revolutionary Court

Mehrdad Bakhtiari, the uncle of Poya Bakhtiari, who was killed during the November 2019 protests, announced that he received a summons to attend a trial session at the First Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Karaj on Saturday, February 17. On Tuesday, February 14, Mehrdad Bakhtiari posted a picture of this summons on social media platform X, stating: "On Saturday, February 17 at 8:30 AM, a hearing will be held for me at the First Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Karaj, presided over by Judge Asif al-Hosseini." The summons, signed by Rouhollah Nikouravan, head of the First Criminal Court of the Revolutionary Court in Karaj, did not mention the plaintiff or the charges against Mehrdad Bakhtiari. In a video message from outside the Revolutionary Court in Karaj on December 7, Mehrdad Bakhtiari announced that the judiciary had put his sister's house, which was pledged as bail to the court, up for auction. He said: "This is Karaj Revolutionary Court, but what can I say about the court, it is a court without justice; because we have not seen any justice to be obtained. The only thing that has been imposed on us, the Bakhtiari family, in these four years has been oppression and suffering." Previously, Pouran Nazemi, a human rights activist in Iran, told Voice of America that the pressures exerted by the Islamic Republic on activists during these times are "greater than in all these years" and "it does not matter whether you are an environmental activist, a civil activist, or a political activist." According to Nazemi, the officials of the Islamic Republic "do not tolerate any protests or criticisms" and "this government has no intention of reform or retreat" and one of the government's actions is to "cut off the economic lifelines of all these activists." The pressures on the Bakhtiari family began after Poya Bakhtiari, a young protester, was shot dead by Islamic Republic agents during the nationwide protests in November 2019, and have continued over the years. In addition to imprisoning Monouchehr Bakhtiari and Nahid Shirpijeh, Poya's parents, the Islamic Republic officials have repeatedly arrested other family members, and some of their cases are still ongoing. Saba Bakhtiari, Monouchehr Bakhtiari's sister, reacted a month ago to the fabrication of charges against Poya's father and the issuance of an 18-year prison sentence and 74 lashes for him, stating to Voice of America that he has done nothing but seek justice for his child and the land of Iran, and "our people's struggle" against the Islamic Republic continues without fear of imprisonment.