Iran: Jafar Panahi released on a bail
Film director Jafar Panahi has been released from Tehran’s Evin prison on a bail of $200,000 (£140,000) after more than two months in custody. Although it has been rumoured he was imprisoned for shooting a film about last June’s disputed presidential elections, it seems more likely his arrest was due to his support for opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. Panahi, who was supposed to sit on the jury of the 2010 Cannes Festival, went on a hunger strike last week to protest the circumstances of his detention. Cannes jury head, US director Tim Burton, joined with Iranian independent filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami and other international filmmakers’ calls for Panahi’s release.