November 01-2013
Actress Pegah Ahangarani has been sentenced to 18 months in prison on unknown charges.
Her mother, Manijeh Hekmat, told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) that the trial court also banned her from traveling abroad for three years, so that she cannot attend film festivals where her movies are being screened.
Ahangarani’s latest film is “Dar Band” (Trapped), for which she received the best actress award at Iran’s Fajr Film Festival, held in conjunction with the February celebrations of the anniversary of the revolution.
That film was screened at the Chicago Film Festival, which she could not attend.
Ahangarani is also a documentary filmmaker and was active in Mir-Hossain Musavi’s 2009 presidential campaign.
While there have been no official reports about the exact charges against Ahangarani, some have suggested the broadcast of her documentary “Deh Namakiha” on BBC Persian may be at the root of the charges against her.
The regime has complained bitterly about Iranian filmmakers allegedly producing films for the BBC. The BBC says it has not commissioned any films in Iran but has bought the rights to many Iranian films after they have emerged from production.
The state news agency said the conviction was for her social activism, including political comments she made and interviews she gave to foreign media.
