Jafar Panahi Awaits Court’s Decision on Release From Jail, Wife Claims Attorneys Were Successful in Getting Six-Year Sentence Vacated

Now that the judgement that led to filmmaker Jafar Panahi's imprisonment last year has been overturned by Iran's highest court, a decision on his release from Tehran's Evin prison is expected soon. According to Variety, a US-based media house, Panahi is regarded as one of Iranian cinema's greatest living masters. Tahereh Saeedi, Tanahi's wife, posted an appeal on Instagram claiming that his attorneys were successful in getting the director's 2010 six-year sentence for "propaganda against the system" vacated. Jafar Panahi Jailed: Iran Arrests Third Outspoken Filmmaker in Escalating Crackdown.

Due to the 10-year statute of limitations in the nation, that statement is now invalid. An Iranian court of appeals has now been given Panahi's case.

"Last week we were informed that Jafar will be out in a week," Saeedi said in the appeal posted on Instagram this week. "A week passed by and Jafar is still not with us," she continued. "The liberation of Jafar is in total accordance of their own laws...But they (Iranian authorities) are above the law; without any respect for the law," Saeedi added.

Panahi is well-known throughout the world for his award-winning films, including The Circle, Offside, This is Not a Film, Taxi, and most recently, No Bears, which took home the Special Jury Prize at Venice last year. According to Variety, As a result of the country's conservative government crackdown, Panahi was detained in Tehran last July. Panahi had gone to the prosecutor's office in Tehran to inquire about the whereabouts of fellow dissident filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulov, who had been detained a few days prior after signing a petition against police brutality. Iran Blast: Massive Explosion at Military Facility in Isfahan.

Variety further reports that before the wave of protests that were ignited in September by the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, when she was being detained for reportedly donning a loose hijab, Rasoulov and Panahi were both imprisoned.

More than 100 people in the Iranian film industry have been detained or Banned from making movies as a result of those protests, which have resulted in more than 500 citizens killed in the clashes that erupted with the government security forces.