Iran: Filmmaker Jafar Panahi 'temporarily' let out on bail after going on hunger strike

Dissent Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi was “temporarily” released from a prison in Iran, just three days after he went on a hunger strike to protest his detention back in July. Taking to social media, Panahi’s wife Tahereh Saeidi shared the news of her husband's release as she wrote “Temporary release of Jafar Panahi.” Saeidi posted a picture of herself and her husband announcing his release from the prison. She, however, did not elaborate on how long the temporary release of her husband was for. 

”Today, Friday, February 16th, and on the third day of Jafar Panahi’s dry strike; with the efforts of his family, respected lawyers, representatives of the cinema house and the cinema organisation, Mr. Panahi was temporarily released from Evin prison," Saeidi stated. 

Released by the Iranian authorities on 'bail'

Panahi’s lawyer, Yusef Moulai, told Associated Press that he was released by the Iranian authorities and he returned home after the ‘bail’. US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) also announced in a tweet that Panahi had been released. Panahi, 62, was detained in July for dissent against Iran's authoritarian regime during a political crackdown. Panahi, one of Iran's most influential filmmakers, went on hunger strike in Tehran's Evin prision.

The now released filmmaker is globally renowned for acclaimed films like The Circle and No Bears. He refused to eat and drink after his bail was denied, according to Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA). Jafar Panahi was arrested on July 11, 2022. He was sentenced to jail for six years and barred from making films for the next 20 years. The 62-year-old representative of Iranian New Wave Cinema, was also barred from leaving the country. The verdict was upheld on appeal. Panahi's six-year prison sentence was quashed by the Iranian Supreme Court. His case was relegated to Branch 21 of the Tehran Court of Appeals for a retrial. Jafar Panahi's arrest came in the midst of raging anti-government protests that erupted following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran's morality police.