Ruling on Jafar Panahi to Be Appealed to Supreme Court

CHN Press: The attorney of filmmaker Jafar Panahi has said that she will lodge an appeal to Iran’s Supreme Court against the appellate court’s ruling to uphold her client’s six-year prison sentence, which was announced on Saturday.

Farideh Gheyrat told the Persian service of ISNA on Sunday that she only learned about the appellate court’s ruling through the media but has not received any official notification from the court.

The Tehran Court of Appeals recently upheld the 2009 ruling against Panahi, which included a 20-year filmmaking and travel ban in addition to the six-year prison sentence. However, the prison sentence is redeemable by paying a fine or could be suspended by the court.

Panahi and his colleague Mohammad Rasoulof were arrested for making a film on the events that occurred after the Iranian presidential election in June 2009.

Rasoulof and Panahi were later released on bail.