Iran film-maker Panahi must serve six-year sentence: judiciary

Award-winning dissident Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi, arrested last week in Tehran, must serve a six-year sentence previously handed to him in 2010, the judicial authority announced Tuesday.

"Panahi had been sentenced in 2010 to a total of six years in prison... and therefore he was entered to the detention centre of Evin to serve his sentence there", judiciary spokesman Massoud Setayeshi told reporters.

Two other Berlinale winners were also recently taken into custody in Iran: Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Al-Ahmad. All three are accused of working with opponents of the government and calling for public unrest.
The detentions seem to have been the result of protests that began after a shopping centre collapsed in the south-western city of Abadan in May, resulting in 40 deaths. Protests demanding accountability were shut down violently by police and security force members.
That led to more than 70 members of the Iranian film industry issuing a public call for an end to police violence, with a campaign called Put Down Your Gun.
Rassulof and Al-Ahmad are believed to have organized those protests. Panahi says he joined online with other film-makers to express solidarity with the first two detained directors.
The Evin prison is known for being used to detain political prisoners and intellectuals. Abuse and grim conditions have been widely reported at the prison.