..although not for some.
Last week in Iran, the Ahmadinejad regime imprisoned prominent Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi for 6 years for ‘distributing propaganda’ and being involved with ‘aiding’ the opposition. To add further insult to this horrendous ruling, Panahi has been banned from making films for 20 years.
Although free until his next hearing in January, Panahi’s work has already been censored by the authorities and the harshness of the sentence will have ramifications for Iranian cultural life as this quote from the Washington Post shows – “This sentence is a warning to us all,” said a popular actress who once openly supported Ahmadinejad’s election challengers but now refuses to be identified, fearing retribution. “It is a message that even the smallest criticism could have dire consequences.”
The climate of fear for artists and creatives is obviously unacceptable, but the wrongful imprisonment/denial of basic rights shows the shocking record of this pariah state. Sign the petition to release him
