after her sentence was reduced in an appeals court, Amnesty International reported Saturday.
The appeals court reduced her sentence to three months—the time she has already served— threw out the lashing part of the punishment.
In the film “My Tehran for Sale” – which was partially funded by an Australian film organization – Vafamehr played the role of an Iranian actress whose work is banned by the government.
After the release of the film, Vafamehr was arrested and sentenced for appearing in the film with a shaved head and no headscarf, and for drinking what appeared to be an alcoholic beverage.
The rule of hejab, however, is to cover the hair, not the head. Vafamehr’s husband, filmmaker Nasser Taghavi, also rejected the accusation his wife was drinking alcohol in the film. In normal filming, even when a drink is described overtly as alcohol, colored water is used.
The government’s original charges and sentencing sparked an international outcry. The Australian film company, Cyan Films, had expressed “deep shock and sadness” at the original sentence, and the Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd’s spokesman expressed “deep concern” over the case.
Amnesty International, backed by the film’s Australian producers, led a global campaign to free Vafamehr.