CNN
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Jafar Panahi, one of Iran’s most influential filmmakers, has reportedly gone on hunger strike at Tehran’s Evin prison to protest his continued detention.
Panahi, a Cannes Film Festival winner who has directed films such as ‘The White Balloon’, ‘The Circle’ and ‘No Bears’,’s move comes after his request for a temporary release was denied. , the activist group Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) reported, citing Pahani’s wife, Tahere Saidi.
On Wednesday, Pahani apparently wrote on his wife’s Instagram: I will remain in this situation for a long time until my lifeless body is released from prison. With love to the people of Iran and my country. ”
According to HRANA, Panahi was arrested in front of Evin Prison on July 11, 2022 and was told he would have to serve a six-year prison sentence issued by a Tehran court in 2011.
He had been charged with creating anti-government propaganda and inciting protests in the post-election turmoil of 2009, according to Reuters.
The Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI), a New York-based human rights group, said the statute of limitations had expired under Iranian law because Panahi’s sentence was handed down more than a decade ago.
However, Iranian judicial authorities have refused to review his case or release him on bail, AFI reported.
In an open letter published on the HRANA website, Panahi wrote:
In his open letter, he noted the protests that have rocked the country since the death of 22-year-old Masa Amini in custody in September 2022, and the wave of arrests and executions that followed. .
“I witnessed the execution of an innocent young man in our country within 30 days, but due to the intervention of the intelligence services, it took more than 100 days to bring my case to court,” Mr Panahi said.
Sources close to the film director say Panahi has been in prison for the past few weeks, suffering from the flu and other ailments, and is constantly being harassed by authorities and deprived of his basic prison rights.
The Iranian government did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
