A dissident Iranian filmmaker was arrested after he attempted to inquire about two other imprisoned Iranian filmmakers. Jafar Panahi visited a court in Tehran to inquire about the case of Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Al-Ahmad, Iranian filmmakers who were recently arrested over protests. 

Panahi has been very vocal on Instagram about his differences with the direction of the government, especially over censorship. Two days ago Panahi posted a montage in support of Rasoulof and Ahmad and wrote, “When a government reaches a political and economic dead end, it has no tolerance for any type of civil disobedience. Thinking by suppressing and creating a crisis they can distract public opinion from the problems.”  

Rasoulof and Ahmad were involved in the protests in Abadan over the Metropol building collapse, which led to dozens of deaths. The anger over the protests led to wider anti-government protests. The two filmmakers signed a statement addressed to security services that called on them to “lay down" their arms. 

In his social media post, Panahi asked, “Is it a crime to ask people to abstain from violence?” Panahi wrote that charging the filmmakers with “agitating public opinion” and “connections with anti-revolutionary” forces was a tactic to charge them with spying for foreign countries, which typically carries longer prison sentences in Iran.