Manoochehr Bakhtiari, a political prisoner currently confined in Qazvin Prison, has been handed a six-month sentence by the Qazvin Revolutionary Court.

In a verdict issued on November 1, 2023, Bakhtiari was convicted and sentenced to an additional six months in prison for “insulting the Supreme Leader of Iran.” This adds to his ongoing imprisonment.

At present, Bakhtiari is serving a three-year, six-month sentence in Qazvin Prison. His wife, Sara Abbasi, has expressed concerns about his health, citing multiple diseases, and claims he is being denied access to medical treatment and furlough.

Bakhtiari’s legal woes began on April 29, 2021, when he was forcefully arrested by security forces at his residence in Tehran. Subsequently, the Revolutionary Court sentenced him to three years and six months in prison, coupled with a two-year, six-month exile and a two-year travel ban. Bakhtiari commenced serving this sentence in July 2021.

In a tragic and related turn of events, Bakhtiari’s son, Pouya, at the age of 27, was fatally shot by regime forces during the 2019 protests, also known as the Aban Protests, in Karaj. According to his sister and mother, Pouya succumbed to his injuries in the hospital after being shot in the head during the second day of the protest’s eruption.