Iranian filmmaker and opponent Jafar Panahi, who was arrested last week in Tehran, must serve a six-year sentence according to a verdict issued in 2010, the Judicial Authority announced on Tuesday.
62-year-old Jafar Panahi, one of Iran’s most awarded filmmakers, “was sentenced in 2010 to six years in prison (…) and was taken to Evin detention center to serve his sentence”Justice spokesman Massoud Sétayechi said at a press conference in Tehran.
Jafar Panahi, was arrested on Monday July 11 in Iran. “Jafar Panahi was arrested on his arrival at the Tehran prosecutor’s office to follow up on the file of another director, Mohammad Rasoulof”detained since Friday July 8, announced the Iranian press agency Mehr.
A dissident artist, he was sentenced in 2010 to six years in prison and a 20-year ban on directing or writing films, traveling or expressing himself in the media, for “propaganda against the regime”, after supporting the 2009 protest movement against the re-election of ultra-conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as President of the Islamic Republic. However, he continued to live and work in Iran.
The Venice Film Festival asked “immediate release” by Jafar Panahi in a press release published on Tuesday July 14. The dean of film festivals expresses his “deep dismay” and also calls for the release of Mohammad Rasoulof and another director, Mostafa Aleahmad.
In recent times, the Iranian authorities have carried out numerous arrests, including a figure of the reform movement Mostafa Tajzadeh, detained on Friday July 8 and accused of“activities against state security”.
Mohammad Rasoulof and his colleague Mostafa Aleahmad were arrested by the authorities for “disturbing public order”. They are accused of having encouraged demonstrations after the collapse of a building which killed 43 people in May in the south-west of the country, according to the official Irna agency.
Led by Mohammad Rasoulof, a group of Iranian filmmakers, including Jafar Panahi, published an open letter in late May calling on the security forces “to lay down arms” in the face of anger against “corruption” and “incompetence” of officials, after the tragedy of the collapse of the building. But “there is still no information on the reason for Panahi’s arrest, his connection to the Rasoulof case or to other people arrested last week”said Mehr.
The organizers of the Berlinale film festival, which awarded Mohammad Rasoulof the highest distinction in 2020, protested last week against the arrest of the filmmaker and Mostafa Aleahmad, demanding the release of the two artists.