Iranian director Panahi jailed for six years

Iranian director Jafar Panahi has been sentenced to six years in jail and banned from filmmaking for 20 years.

Panahi's lawyer Farideh Gheyrat yesterday announced that the director was convicted of colluding in gathering and making propaganda against Iran's government. Panahi, who will also not be allowed to travel abroad or speak to the media, has been a vocal supporter of the opposition green movement.

Gheyrat has said that she will launch an appeal.

Columbia University's professor of Iranian studies Hamid Dabashi told The Guardian that the conviction was a "catastrophe for Iran's cinema".

"What Iran is doing with the artists, is exactly similar to what Taliban did in Afghanistan. This is exactly like bombing Buddha statues by the Taliban, Iran is doing the same with its artists," he said.

Panahi and his family were arrested earlier this year, sparking an outcry from Hollywood stars such as Robert De Niro, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Robert Redford, who all called for his release.

Panahi's films, which are all banned in his homeland, include 1995's Cannes Camera d'Or winner The White Balloon, The Circle and Crimson Gold.