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Friend,

I write to you today to share the devastating news that imprisoned Iranian poet, filmmaker, and recipient of the 2021 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award Baktash Abtin ([link removed]) died this weekend in a Tehran hospital, succumbing to COVID-19.
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COVID is a natural killer, but Abtin’s death was aided and abetted by the Iranian government every step of the way. Tehran’s Evin prison was a perpetual super-spreader event, making his unjust imprisonment since September of last year an effective death sentence. Abtin was denied medical treatment, his comorbidities were ignored, and at times he was shackled to his bed. Unfortunately, our worst fears have materialized, and we mourn his utterly preventable death.

Abtin, jailed alongside his colleagues Keyvan Bajan, Reza Khandan Mahabadi, and Arash Ganji, was a true champion of free expression and a steadfast leader in the Iranian literary and human rights communities. When this brave role put a target on his back, he did not flinch or hide. We will remember Abtin as a gifted poet and filmmaker, but also as a courageous thinker and a principled advocate. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and colleagues in the Iranian Writers’ Association.
TELL IRAN TO RELEASE ABTIN'S COLLEAGUES NOW ([link removed])

As Abtin’s condition deteriorated, we mobilized to urgently call on the Iranian authorities ([link removed]) to guarantee him access to the best possible medical care, and we joined with 18 other organizations to demand ([link removed]) that all those unjustly detained for their writing or expression be immediately and unconditionally released.

We hope you will join us today in calling on Iranian authorities to release Keyvan Bajan, Reza Khandan Mahabadi, and Arash Ganji immediately, along with others unjustly detained in Iran and who are battling COVID infections or other severe health concerns, before it is too late. You can share our tweet honoring Abtin ([link removed]) , and sign our petition ([link removed]) to urge that his colleagues be released.

Today, we grieve, but we also redouble our commitment to carry forward Abtin’s fight for the freedom to think and to write, in Iran and around the world. As always, we are grateful for your support.

In solidarity,
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Suzanne Nossel
PEN America CEO
Watch our video of Baktash Abtin accepting the 2021 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award remotely in October 2021. ([link removed])
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