Beginning of March, Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi had been arrested by the police of his country. Over two months later, he's still in prison.

The International Federation of Film Critics FIPRESCI, a non-profit, apolitical organization consisting of members from 68 countries worldwide, strongly protests the arrest and unjust confinement of filmmaker Jafar Panahi. In the collective view of FIPRESCI, Panahi is not only an outstanding filmmaker - he has merited the FIPRESCI Award at the 2000 Venice Film Festival and also received our "Grand Prix - Best Film of the Year" for "The Circle / Dayereh" - he is also, in our opinion, an honorable person and has earned the warmest respect from cinephiles and humanists alike from all over the world. What he is not, in our view, is a criminal. He can and should not be denied of freedom for his political opinion. We regard his imprisonment as a crime against both democracy as well as the most basic of human rights.

Munich, May 9, 2010
FIPRESCI - The International Federation of Film Critics