The family of the Iranian writer Baktash Abtin is taking legal action against those responsible for his death, saying he was repeatedly denied medical care after contracting Covid-19 in prison.
The poet and filmmaker died in hospital on January 8 at the age of 48.
He had been placed in an induced coma after being transferred from Evin jail, Tehran, where he was serving a six-year sentence.
The 48-year-old was jailed on national security grounds, having held a leading role at the Iranian Writers’ Association, which promotes free speech and is banned in the country.
His brother Arman Kazemi told Iranian website hadese24 that the family was suing people they said had “neglected” his brother.
Abtin’s supporters have said his death was preventable and that his transfer to hospital was delayed by negligent staff.
“By the time my brother was taken from prison to hospital, his physical condition was so bad that we could hear just a few of the words that came out of his mouth,” Mr Kazemi said.
A widely distributed photograph of Abtin showed him reading while cuffed to a hospital bed by his ankles.
Mr Kazemi said his brother had needed treatment because of the way he was shackled.
Activists have decried what they see as increased repression in Iran in recent months, including the jailing of campaigners and greater use of the death penalty.
Human rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi, 49, was sentenced to eight years in prison and more than 70 lashes last month. The EU condemned the decision.
She was arrested in November 2021 while attending a memorial for a man killed during nationwide protests two years earlier. The case against her was unclear.
