“In 2010, Panahi was sentenced to six years in prison (…) and, accordingly, he was placed in the Evin Detention Center (Tehran) to serve this sentence,” said Masoud Setaishi, a spokesman for the judiciary. , at a press conference. .
This was after local media reported on July 11 that Panahi had been arrested, becoming the third director to announce his incarceration in a few days, after Muhammad Rasoulof and Mustafa Al Ahmad.
Mehr News said at the time of Panahi’s arrest “when he visited the prosecutor’s office in Tehran to investigate the case of another director, Muhammad Rasoulof.”
The 62-year-old actor is considered one of the most well-known names in contemporary Iranian cinema and has won international awards, the most important of which was the Golden Bear Award for Best Film at the Berlin Film Festival in 2015 for Tehran Taxi. ”, And“ Best Screenplay ”at the Cannes Film Festival 2018. About“ Three Faces ”.
The arrest of Panahi, who had previously been sentenced to imprisonment and officially banned from producing cinematographic works in his country, came after it was revealed on Friday that two directors, Muhammad Rasoulof and Mustafa Al Ahmad, had been arrested in the allegations of “public violation. order ”in Iran.
Official media revealed the arrest of Rasoulof and Al-Ahmad on charges of “disrupting public order” after their support of protest movements in Iran’s regions against the backdrop of the collapse of a building in the south- west of the country in May 2022, during the incident, 43 people died.
The collapse of the Metropol building under construction in Abadan, Khuzestan province, caused a natural disaster considered one of the worst in the Islamic Republic in recent years, followed by movements in some cities in solidarity with the families of victim. victims, as well as in protest against “corruption and incompetence” and the demand for responsibility for those responsible for the accident, the statement said, as reported by Agence France-Presse.
As a result, a group of Iranian filmmakers led by Rasoulof released an open letter later that month calling on the security forces to “lay down their weapons” in the face of anger over corruption, theft, incompetence and oppression. ” “. In the same month, Rasoulof and Banahi were among those who signed an open letter condemning the arrest by Iranian authorities of some of their colleagues at the time.
After the three directors were arrested, the directors of international film festivals such as Venice, Berlin and Cannes finally called for their release.
Source: Al-Akhbar
