According to a newspaper report, the Iranian film director Jafar Panahi has been released on bail after around seven months in prison.
The Iranian newspaper "Shargh" reported on February 3, 2023 on Twitter. On Wednesday evening, filmmakers, citing Panahi's family, announced that the 62-year-old had gone on a hunger strike. Since July 2022, Panahi has been held in the notorious Ewin prison in the Iranian capital, Tehran. He had previously been sentenced to six years in prison for "anti-government propaganda".
In 2015, Jafar Panahi was awarded the "Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media" by Media Foundation of Sparkasse Leipzig together with the Turkish journalist Nedim Şener. Even then, Panahi was in custody and could not accept the award in person in Leipzig.