A group of prominent members of the Iranian film community visited the head of judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani to express their concern about the heavy prison terms that were recently handed to their two colleagues, filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof.
Khabar-on-line reports that the group urged the Head of Judiciary not to allow “Iran’s art scene fall prey to political traps,’ and called on Ayatollah Larijani to approach the cases, which are both currently in the appeal stage, more positively.
The visit has reportedly been successful in attaining the promise of the head of the Judiciary’s Human Rights Commission, Mohammad Javad Larijani to take a more favourable stance regarding the appeal.
Jafar Panahi was recently sentenced to six years in prison and 20 years ban from filmmaking and travel abroad for allegedly planning to make a film about the post-election protests in Iran. Mohammad Rasoulof was also sentenced to six years in prison.
Both the Iranian and international film community have spoken out against these sentences and called on Iran to rescind the court rulings.
