The well-known Iranian film-maker and 2020 Berlinale winner Mohammad Rasoulof has reportedly been sentenced to several years in prison.
His lawyer, Babak Paknia, wrote on social media platform X on Wednesday that a court in Tehran sentenced the 52-year-old to eight years in prison, of which five years must be served. The director is also to be punished with lashes.
According to the defence lawyer, the judiciary said the the severe punishment was due to violations of national security. Rasoulof was also ordered to pay a fine. The confiscation of property was also mentioned.
There was initially no confirmation of the judgement from the Iranian judiciary. Some Iranian media picked up on the lawyer's post.
Just over a year ago, Rasoulof was banned from travelling abroad.
The film-maker was only released from Tehran's notorious Ewin prison in February 2023 after around seven months in jail. Prior to his imprisonment, he had criticized the collapse of a shopping mall in the south-western Iranian city of Abadan, which left many dead.
Rasoulof, who won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 2020 for his film "There is No Evil" about capital punishment in Iran, is considered critical of the regime in the country. Despite being banned from film-making, he has continued to manage to make films.
He lived alternately in Tehran and Hamburg.