"A limited amnesty is to be offered to many of those detained in the recent Iranian protests, the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has agreed …

"The amnesty will not apply to those deemed to have cooperated with foreign agents, or those charged with committing acts of arson against government buildings. Those “affiliated with groups hostile to the Islamic Republic” will also be excluded, a catch-all that suggests the authorities may only be interested in releasing youngsters with minimal political motives, who can be portrayed as being swayed by emotion or foreign propaganda online …

"The amnesty came as two senior reformist politicians warned the government was facing a political dead end."

#Iran #IranProtests2022 #WomenLifeFreedom #MahsaAmini
#MohammadKhatami #MirHosseinMousavi #IranElection

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/05/irans-supreme-leader-pardons-tens-of-thousands-of-prisoners

Acclaimed Iranian film director Jafar Panahi has been released on bail, two days after starting a hunger strike in Evin prison.

He had been imprisoned since 11 July 2022 and awaiting a retrial since 15 October, when the supreme court quashed a 2010 conviction for "propaganda against the system" and ordered a retrial.

His French distributor, Michèle Halberstadt, called the release "extraordinary, a relief, a total joy."

#JafarPanahi #HungerStrike #EvinPrison
#MohammadRasoulof #TaranehAlidoosti
#Iran #Film
#MahsaAmini #IranProtests2022 #IranElection

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/feb/03/iranian-film-maker-jafar-panahi-released-on-bail-after-hunger-strike

Award-winning Iranian film director Jafar Panahi writes: "I firmly declare that in protest against the illegal and inhumane behaviour of the judicial and security apparatus and their hostage-taking, I have started a hunger strike since the morning of [1 February]. I will refuse to eat and drink any food and medicine until the time of my release. I will remain in this state until perhaps my lifeless body is freed from prison."

He was arrested in July 2022 and his sentences from 2010 after the Green Revolution were reactivated, despite a 10-year statute of limitations. Granted a retrial, he should be on bail, but this has been blocked.

#JafarPanahi #Iran #Film #NoBears
#MahsaAmini #IranProtests2022 #IranElection

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/02/film-maker-jafar-panahi-begins-hunger-strike-in-iranian-prison

"Jafar Panahi’s wife Tahereh Saeedi issued a fresh appeal for her imprisoned husband to be released as his period of captivity entered 200 days, in an Instagram post on Thursday.

"Her statement follows the news at the weekend that Panahi was possibly on the verge of being released on bail after his lawyer Saleh Nikbakht successfully challenged his detention in the Supreme Court last October."

She wrote: "Last week, the news came that Jafar will be released within the week. We were happy again and felt better. Today, a week has passed, and Jafar hasn’t come. Exactly 200 days have passed since Jafar was imprisoned. We are disappointed."

#JafarPanahi #TaherehSaeedi #MohammadRasoulof #MustafaAlAhmad
#Iran #Film
#MahsaAmini #IranProtests2022 #IranElection

https://deadline.com/2023/01/jafar-panahi-wife-new-appeal-director-release-hopes-dashed-1235241624/

Previous thread:
https://kolektiva.social/@jimrhiz/109731644695180514

"Iran’s judiciary is to rule on whether to release the film-maker Jafar Panahi on bail after his conviction was overturned by the supreme court, his lawyer said.

"Panahi, 62, who has won a number of awards at European film festivals, was arrested on 11 July [2022] and sent to jail to serve a six-year sentence which had been handed down in 2010 for “propaganda against the system”. He served two months at the time before being granted a conditional release. He was also barred from leaving Iran and making films, and was largely confined to his home until his arrest in July.

"But on 15 October the supreme court quashed the conviction and ordered a retrial."

Panahi's conviction came after he supported mass protests in 2009 against the disputed election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Despite the bar, he continued making films surreptitiously. His July 2022 arrest followed his attendance at a court hearing for fellow film director Mohammad Rasoulof.

Rasoulof obtained a two-week health furlough from prison from 7 January 2023.

#JafarPanahi #MohammadRasoulof #Iran #Film
#ArashSadeghi #MahsaAmini #IranProtests2022 #IranElection

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jan/21/iran-to-rule-on-release-of-film-maker-jafar-panahi