Iranian filmmaker released on bail

TEHRAN - Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi was released on bail Tuesday, the Tehran prosecutors’ office said in a statement.

Panahi had been released from the Evin prison after posting a bail of two billion rials ($200,000), ISNA news agency reported quoting the statement.

It said the case would be forwarded to the revolutionary court in charge of national security offences, but gave no court date. The judicial order allowing bail was issued Sunday.

Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dowlatabadi said Monday that Panahi would be released until ordered to appear in court.

Jafari-Dowlatabadi reportedly issued orders for more investigation into the case after meeting with Panahi.

Panahi told his wife by telephone Tuesday that he had gone on hunger strike after prison officials threatened him with the arrest and imprisonment of all his family members.

He vowed to continue the strike until allowed contact with his family, to be assured of their health and safety.

Panahi, 49, was arrested in March. The Tehran prosecutor’s office denied any political reasons, but opposition websites reported that he was arrested for planning a film critical of the Islamic regime.

In 2006, Panahi won a Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival for Offside, a film about Iranian girls who disguised themselves as boys to watch the national team in a World Cup qualification game.

A scheduled visit in February to Germany to attend the Berlin Film Festival was cancelled after Iranian authorities refused to give Panahi permission to leave Iran.

He was invited to join this year’s Cannes festival jury, but his detention kept him away, prompting calls from the French government for Tehran to release him. Several filmmakers and actors also called for his release.

He and other Iranian filmmakers supported the opposition Green Movement, led by Mir-Hossein Moussavi, before and after the June presidential election.

Panahi accused the government of electoral fraud and refused to acknowledge the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iranian filmmakers claimed that since Ahmadinejad became president in 2005, there have been more restrictions on artists and especially filmmakers.

Panahi and most filmmakers opposed to the president reportedly boycotted Iran’s International Film Festival in February.

Iran’s state television on Tuesday branded both international pleas and the calls at the Cannes festival for Panahi’s release as “political propaganda” against Iran.

A special news report accused not only the organisers of the Cannes film festival, but also ministers of French President’s Nicolas Sarkozy government, of joining the pro-Panahi campaign, which was then widely covered by Western media and used against Iran.

The report also harshly criticised Iranian filmmakers Abbas Kiarostami, who attended the Cannes festival with his latest film Certified Copy, Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Bahman Ghobadi for their open pleas for Panahi’s release in Cannes.

The report said it remains to be seen whether the release of Panahi was a result of the campaigns, indicating that the Iranian judiciary should not have given in to international pressure.

The Iranian government has also criticised the Cannes film festival organizers for their open support of Panahi.

Iranian Deputy Culture Minister Javad Shamaqdari has reportedly told Cannes festival president Gilles Jacob that involvement in political issues would damage the reputation of the renowned film festival, whose main aim is to link nations through art and culture.

Shamaqdari, who is also in charge of cinema affairs, said even if Cannes officials supported Panahi for humanitarian reasons, the way it was eventually presented in the Western media was political.