Following a retrial on charges of propaganda against the government, the Tehran Revolutionary Court affirmed a one‑year prison term for Jafar Panahi.
On Sunday, Mostafa Nili, the attorney for the writer‑director of *It Was Just an Accident*, stated that Judge Iman Afshari dismissed the defense’s objections and sustained the in‑absentia verdict, citing the production of an “underground and controversial film” opposed to the establishment.
“The original ruling had convicted Panahi of one year for propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Nili explained in an interview with Iran’s Emtedad.
The sentence, issued while Panahi was abroad promoting his Cannes‑selected Palme d’Or‑winning film, also imposes a two‑year travel restriction and bars him from joining political or social organizations.
Nili added that the decision is appealable within a 20‑day window.
Panahi has repeatedly drawn the ire of Iran’s hardline authorities. Most recently, in July 2023, he was detained at Evin Prison for seven months after traveling there to inquire about the arrests of fellow filmmakers Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Al‑Ahmad.
A few days later, it was announced that Iranian officials had re‑activated a six‑year sentence originally imposed in 2010, which also included a 20‑year ban on filmmaking and travel.
The charges stemmed from his attendance at a 2009 funeral for a student killed during the Green Revolution and his subsequent attempt to film a feature amidst the uprising. After a hunger strike, Panahi was released from his most recent detention in February 2023.
