Panahi, 62, was arrested in July – before the wave of protests even began – and remains incarcerated in Tehran’s Evin prison
Award-winning Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who has been imprisoned in Tehran for six months, has begun a hunger strike to protest his detention conditions, according to a statement released today by his wife.
Jafar Panahi, whose films have won awards at European film festivals, was arrested in July before the wave of protests that has rocked the Iranian regime since September even began.
His arrest in July came after he had attended the trial of another director, Mohammad Rasulov, who had been arrested a few days earlier.
The international arrest caused reactions from both the Berlin Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival (center photo).
Prominent Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has, in a letter from Evin Prison, said he has gone on a dry hunger strike in protest against the “Judiciary’s unlawful and inhumane behaviors and clear hostage-taking” and will not drink or eat anything until being released from jail. pic.twitter.com/ez1QX9ddFm
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) February 1, 2023
Jafar Panahi, 62, was arrested on July 11 and ordered to serve a six-year prison sentence handed down in 2010 for “propaganda against the system”.
But on October 15 the Supreme Court overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial, giving his lawyers hope for his release.
Despite hopes for his release last month, Jafar Panahi remains imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin Prison.
“Today, like many people trapped in Iran, I have no choice but to protest against this inhumane behavior with what I hold dearest: my life,” he said. “I will refuse to eat and drink and take any medicine until my release,” said the filmmaker, whose hunger strike began on February 1.
“I will remain in this state until perhaps my lifeless body is released from prison,” he added.
Jafar Panahi won a Golden Lion at the 2000 Venice Film Festival for his film The Circle.
In 2015 he was awarded the Golden Bear in Berlin for his film “Taxi in Tehran” and in 2018 he won the best screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival for “Three Faces”.
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