Dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has obtained an eight-year jail sentence, in addition to a nice, confiscation of his property and flogging, by an Iranian court docket, Rasoulof’s lawyer Babak Paknia introduced in a post on X (previously often known as Twitter) on Wednesday.
Paknia mentioned the decision was issued by twenty ninth department of the Islamic Revolution Courtroom and confirmed within the thirty sixth department of the Aina Courtroom of Appeals. In keeping with Paknia, the court docket discovered that Rasoulof’s public statements, in addition to his movies and documentaries “have been examples of collusion with the intention of committing a criminal offense towards the nation’s safety.”
Rasoulof’s sentencing comes forward of the Cannes movie pageant, the place the director’s newest characteristic, Seed of the Sacred Fig Tree is ready to have its world premiere, screening in competitors. It was already uncertain whether or not Iranian authorities would permit the director to journey to France for the pageant. That now seems unattainable.
Rasoulof has been one of many Iranian movie trade’s most outspoken critics of Tehran’s hard-line regime. And he has paid the value. The director was arrested in July 2022 for signing a petition calling on safety forces to train restraint in relation to common protests. Launched briefly in February 2023 on well being grounds, he has remained underneath home arrest ever since.
Final yr Cannes invited Rasoulof to serve on its Un Sure Regard Jury, however he was barred from leaving Iran. It has been reported that Iranian authorities put the director underneath stress to withdraw Seed of the Sacred Fig Tree from Cannes totally.