Dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi was arrested in Iran, state media reported on Monday, making him the third director to be detained in less than a week.
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Panahi was convicted of "propaganda against the system" in 2010 over his support for anti-government protests and for his films that criticized modern Iran. He was barred from leaving the country to collect any of his awards as well as prohibited from making new films.
Despite numerous Western celebrities and movie organizations calling on Tehran to stop the persecution of Panahi and other Iranian filmmakers, the crackdown on actors and directors continues. Earlier on Friday, state news agency IRNA reported that Iranian authorities arrested another award-winning filmmaker, Mohammad Rasoulof, and his colleague Mostafa Aleahmad.
Panahi, 62, won a Golden Bear at the Berlin film festival in 2015 for "Taxi," and best screenplay at Cannes for his film "Three Faces" in 2018.
The incident sparked a wave of protests that led to police violence against demonstrators and arrests of civil activists.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
