Jafar Panahi’s arrest: Heavy prison sentence for the Iranian director of Taxi Tehran

On July 8, Iranian directors Mohammad Rasulof and Mustafa Al-Ahmadi were arrested in their homes in Iran. because of them “Destabilization Activism”As explained then releaseAnd clarifying that the real reason will be their signatory status, in May, A “We call on the police to stop using weapons on crowds protesting against corruption and regulatory mismanagement, which led to the collapse of a tower in Abadan, in the southwest of the country.”

The arrest led to a petition calling for their release, as well as demonstrations. And right next to one of them, Iranian film director Jafar Panahi was arrested on Monday, July 11. Thanks to Taxi Tehran, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2015, the director now has to serve six years in prison… which he was sentenced to in 2010.

That’s what he said Spokesman of JusticeMasoud Setayech at a press conference in the capital of Iran. Jafar Panahi, accused of supporting the protest movement against the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president of the Islamic Republic in 2009, was sentenced to six years in prison and twenty years in prison. Banned from directing or writing films, leaving the country or speaking in the media.

But he did not go to prison and continued to shoot secretly with digital cameras and an iPhone, and his films were presented at major festivals. And especially Cannes, which hosted the latest opus, Three Faces, which won the Screenplay Prize in 2018. Like their counterparts in Berlin and Venice, Cannes organizers protested and demanded the release of Jafar Panah, as well as Mohammad Rasoulof and Mustafa Ali. – Ahmad.