It is expected that the Iranian judiciary will take a decision regarding the possible release of the opposition director, Jaafar Panahi, next Friday. Today, his lawyer, Salihi Nikbaş, told Agence France-Presse that the Supreme Court has reversed the sentence of the 62-year-old, who has been in prison since July. Nekpacht said law enforcement officials told him they would “make a decision on Mr. Panahi” by Friday at the latest.
The lawyer said the verdict against his client was overturned on October 15 and the case was referred to the Court of Appeal on Monday.
Panahi was arrested in July in a Tehran court where he was investigating the case of another arrested film director. Then the judiciary decided that he had to serve a six-year prison sentence that had already been handed down in 2010 for “propaganda against the regime”. The decision was strongly criticized internationally.
Panahi is one of the most famous Iranian filmmakers. He won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 2015 for the secretly filmed Taxi, but was unable to attend the awards ceremony. In 2018, his film Three Faces won Best Screenplay in Cannes.
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