By Basant El-Faramawy
Iran has sentenced acclaimed film director Jafar Panahi to five years and one month in prison, according to his lawyer and associates. The Tehran court also ordered the confiscation of Panahi’s movable and immovable assets, lawyer Mostafa Nili told the reformist news site Emtedad.
Panahi, who returned to Iran in March following the start of U.S. and Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic, was previously convicted of “propaganda activities against the system.” The new sentence was handed down on Monday, a friend and Iranian activist based in Europe, Hossein Razzagh, told The Associated Press. Razzagh said he spoke with Panahi on Monday evening and the filmmaker had not been detained, though all his bank accounts have been blocked.
The director, among the most celebrated contemporary Iranian filmmakers, has continued making movies despite repeated imprisonment, travel bans, and house arrest over the past two decades. He recently filmed “It Was Just an Accident” clandestinely after a seven-month prison stint that ended in 2023 following a hunger strike.
