By Ahmed Abdelsalam
An Iranian court has sentenced award-winning film director Jafar Panahi to five years and one month in prison, ordered the seizure of all his assets, and imposed a two-year travel ban and a two-year ban on using social media. The 66-year-old filmmaker, who won the Palme d'Or at Cannes last year for "It Was Just an Accident," was sentenced in absentia, his lawyer Mostafa Nili told the Iranian news outlet Emtedad. The charges against Panahi remain unclear.
Previous Conviction and Return
Panahi returned to Iran in March from an overseas trip to promote his latest film, despite having been sentenced in absentia last year to one year in prison for "propaganda activities against the system." A friend of the filmmaker, an activist based in Europe, said Panahi had not been detained as of Monday evening after the new sentencing. Nili said Panahi currently faces three open legal cases and only learned of the latest hearing after his bank accounts were frozen last week.
Legal Concerns and Reactions
Human rights lawyer Moein Khazaeli of the Dadban legal counselling centre said the sentencing and asset confiscation could violate Iran's constitution unless authorities establish a clear legal basis linking the property to an alleged offence. Fellow artists have expressed alarm. Exiled actor Setareh Maleki said the sentence proves how deeply the Islamic Republic fears storytelling. An anonymous filmmaker inside Iran linked the ruling to Panahi's calls for unity during January protests and his support for diverse voices, including supporters of Reza Pahlavi. Iranian-British actor Nazanin Boniadi condemned the "draconian" sentence as an attempt to silence a courageous artist.
Wider Crackdown on Cultural Figures
A recent report by the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran warned that Iranian authorities are intensifying their crackdown on artists, writers, poets, musicians and other cultural figures, "pulling peaceful voices into the same coercive security and judicial apparatus used to suppress dissent across Iran."
