2024-05-13 23:46:26
Famous Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has announced that he has fled his country to an undisclosed location in Europe, after a Tehran court sentenced him to prison on national security charges.
Rasoulof condemned the Iranian government in an Instagram post on Monday, describing it as an authoritarian and oppressive regime, and released a video clip as evidence of his crossing of the country’s mountainous border.
In a separate statement dated May 12, Rasoulof said he decided to flee Iran after his lawyers told him his prison sentence would be served shortly.
He added: “I had to choose between prison and leaving Iran… With a heavy heart, I chose exile. »
The news network continued.CNN“We contacted Iranian authorities for comment, but received no response.
His lawyer, Babak Paknia, said last week that an Iranian court sentenced Rasoulof to five years in prison and flogging after finding his documentaries were “examples of complicity with the intent to commit a crime against security of the country.
Rasoulof is among several prominent artists arrested by authorities as part of a widespread crackdown on dissent since nationwide protests were sparked by the 2022 death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for not wearing her hijab correctly.
Rasoulof, 52, whose recent films criticized the Iranian government, was among a group of artists and filmmakers who signed a letter criticizing security forces’ violent response to suppress a 2022 protest following the collapse from a building in the southwestern city of Abadan that killed more than 40 people.
It should be noted that the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, which begins on May 14 in the south of France, has included Rasoulof’s new film “The Sacred Fig Seed” in its selection list.
Imprisonment of Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof
An Iranian court has sentenced famous Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof to five years in prison, whose new film will compete in the Cannes Film Festival, his lawyer announced Wednesday.
During the Cannes edition in 2023, Rasoulof was invited as a member of the jury, but he was unable to attend due to a travel ban.
Rasouloff won the Golden Bear at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival for his anti-death penalty film, “There Is No Devil.”
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