Award-winning Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has been sentenced to eight years in prison and caning, just before he was scheduled to attend the Cannes Film Festival, his lawyer told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Rasoulof, 51, best known for his role in the film “There Is No Evil,” is part of a growing crackdown on all dissent in the Islamic Republic following years of mass protests over the death of Martha Amini in 2022. He became the latest artist to be targeted by
Iranian authorities have not recognized the verdict, but Rasoulof and other artists told authorities they had to “put their guns away” during demonstrations over a building collapse that killed at least 29 people in the southwestern city of Abadan in 2022. They co-signed a letter asking them to put the matter in place. Since then, artists, athletes, celebrities and others have been investigated or sentenced to prison.
His lawyer, Babak Paknia, told The Associated Press: “This decision was made because Mr. Rasolov signed a statement in support of the Iranian people.” He said these comments, along with his tweets and further social activities, were found to be “acts contrary to national security.”
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Iranian film director Mohammad Rasoulof poses for the film “The Immigrant” in Cannes, France, on May 24, 2013. Award-winning Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof was sentenced to eight years in prison and caning just days before his scheduled trip to Iran. His lawyer told The Associated Press on Thursday at the Cannes Film Festival. (AP Photo/François Mori, File)
Mr. Paknia added that Mr. Raslov was tried at the Revolutionary Court in Tehran.
The court, which often hears cases involving Western officials later used in prisoner exchanges by Iran, does not allow defendants on trial to choose their own lawyers and does not allow defendants to choose their own lawyers during private hearings. The government has been criticized internationally for not even allowing people to see evidence against them.
His lawyer said the coach could also face a caning, fines and asset seizure.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment on Rasoulof’s sentence. He was scheduled to head to Cannes later this month for the premiere of his new film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig.
There Is No Evil, which tells four stories closely related to the use of the death penalty in Iran, won the Golden Bear at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival. Rasulov did not come to receive the award due to a travel ban. By Iranian authorities. Immediately after winning the award, he was sentenced to one year in prison for three films he had produced that authorities deemed to be “propaganda against the regime.”
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He has faced repeated prison sentences and film bans in his native Iran, where the country’s Shiite theocracy has long accused the artist of being embraced by the West as part of a “soft war” against its policies. I’ve done it. However, Iran has become known in the international film world for bold and thought-provoking films that outline the challenges of life in the Islamic Republic.
Fellow filmmaker Saeed Lustaei and his producer similarly faced a lawsuit after visiting Cannes last year to screen “Leila’s Brother.”
