Mohammad Rasoulof Lawyer Says Dissident Director Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison, Flogging by Iran Court

Dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has received an eight-year prison sentence, as well as a fine, confiscation of his property and flogging, by an Iranian court, Rasoulof’s lawyer Babak Paknia announced in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Wednesday.

Paknia said the verdict was issued by 29th branch of the Islamic Revolution Court and confirmed in the 36th branch of the Aina Court of Appeals. According to Paknia, the court found that Rasoulof’s public statements, as well as his films and documentaries “were examples of collusion with the intention of committing a crime against the country’s security.”

Rasoulof’s sentencing comes ahead of the Cannes film festival, where the director’s latest feature, Seed of the Sacred Fig Tree is set to have its world premiere, screening in competition. It was already doubtful whether Iranian authorities would allow the director to travel to France for the festival. That now looks impossible.

Rasoulof has been one of the Iranian film industry’s most outspoken critics of Tehran’s hard-line regime. And he has paid the price. The director was arrested in July 2022 for signing a petition calling on security forces to exercise restraint in relation to popular protests. Released temporarily in February 2023 on health grounds, he has remained under house arrest ever since.

Last year Cannes invited Rasoulof to serve on its Un Certain Regard Jury, but he was barred from leaving Iran. It has been reported that Iranian authorities put the director under pressure to withdraw Seed of the Sacred Fig Tree from Cannes entirely.