6/3/2010: IRANIAN FILMMAKER JAFAR PANAHI ARREST SPARKS PROTESTS
Plainclothes Iranian police broke into Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi's
family home on Monday March 1, and arrested him, his wife and daughter and 15
other guests, his son Panah has told reporters. The director, known for his
social realism and his support for opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi, has
made several films critical of Iran's regime. But the Tehran prosecutor's office
has denied the arrest was connected to politics according to BBC reports.
Protests against the Iranian director’s arrest erupted immediately from film
circles across the world.
The European Film Academy issued a statement: "Jafar Panahi is an
internationally recognised artist and his work has been honoured at the
festivals in Berlin, Cannes and Venice. Before his arrest, Panahi was denied
permission to leave Iran in order to attend the 60th Berlinale as an honorary
guest. The Board of the European Film Academy encourages the EFA Members to join
this protest by personal letters to the respective Iranian embassy.”
NETPAC, the organisation for the Promotion of Asian Cinema, called for his immediate release. “We urge the leaders of Iran to respect the fundamental human rights and artistic expression of its artists. We stand behind filmmaker Jafar Panahi, and join hands with the other world-wide organizations in demanding his immediate release,” said a statement issued through Australian representative Anne Demy-Geroe, director of the Brisbane Film Festival.
The Canadian government has also expressed "deep concern" over reports of
Panahi's arrest and called for his release on Tuesday. "Canada continues to have
deep concerns with Iran's human rights practices. We continue to call on Iran to
live up to its human rights obligations in law and practice," the government
said in a statement.
"The arrest of Jafar Panahi is not because he is an artist or for political
reason," prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi told the semi-official ISNA news
agency. "He is accused of some crimes and was arrested with another person
following an order by a judge."
The police arrived at 10pm on Monday March 1 and arrested everyone who was there
and searched the house taking away computers and other personal belongings, his
son Panah said.
Panahi is making a documentary film about the wave of protests that broke out
last June after the controversial election of president Mahmud Ahmadinejad. It
is reported that Panahi did not receive permission to shoot the scenes of his
new film in Tehran.
Last year a travel ban was imposed on Mr Panahi by the authorities after he
appeared wearing green - the colour of opposition supporters - at the Montreal
film festival. He was also briefly arrested after attending a memorial to
student Neda Agha Soltan, killed at an opposition rally last June.
Panahi is a past winner of the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion award. His
most recent film is Offside, which won the 2006 Berlin Film Festival's Silver
Bear award. It tells the story of a group of female football fans who try to
sneak into Iran's World Cup qualifying match against Bahrain but are arrested.
In Iran, women are banned from attending men's sporting events.
At least 30 protesters have been killed in clashes since last year's disputed
elections, although the opposition says more than 70 have died. Thousands have
been detained and some 200 activists remain behind bars.
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