The most famous director from Iran, winner of the Golden Bear in Berlin, sentenced to flogging and eight years in prison for “complicity in the crime against the security of the country”

An Iranian court sentenced the famous film director Mohammad Rasoulof to eight years in prison and flogging for crimes related to national security, his lawyer, Babak Paknia, said on Wednesday.

In a statement on the X social media platform, Paknia said that the court considered Rasoulof’s films and documentaries to be “examples of complicity with the intention of committing a crime against the security of the country.” The court also imposed an unspecified fine and ordered the confiscation of Rasoulof’s assets, Paknia added, quoted by CNN.

Rasoulof won a Golden Bear for Best Film at the 2020 Berlinale for There Is No Evil, and his film A Man of Integrity was recognized for a Certain Regard distinction at Cannes in 2017. The most the recent film of the Iranian screenwriter and director, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”, will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, in France, next week.

Before the film’s release, the director and his production team faced pressure from the Iranian government, his lawyer claimed, writing last week on X that some actors were interrogated and banned from leaving the country by officials. According to Paknia, some of them also stated that they were asked by the officials to tell Rasoulof to withdraw the film from the festival.

Paknia also wrote last week on X that it was not clear if Rasoulof would be able to travel to Cannes to participate in the screening of his film.

In 2022, an Iranian court sentenced Rasoulof to a year in prison and banned him from making films for two years, on charges of “propaganda against the system,” according to Human Rights Watch. Previously, the Iranian authorities arrested him several times and confiscated his passport because of his activity, according to HRW.