Iranian actress receives jail setence

Reports from Iran indicate that Iranian actress Pegah Ahangarani has been sentenced to 18 months in prison by the judiciary

.

Her mother, Manijeh Hekmat, told ISNA that in the preliminary court, Judge Maqiseh sentenced her daughter to 18 months in jail.

The report indicates that Ahangarani has been banned from traveling abroad for over three years and hence cannot attend film festivals where her films are being screened. Ahangarani’s latest film “Trapped”, for which she received the best actress award at Iran’s Fajr Film Festival, was recently screened at the Chicago Film Festival, which she could not attend.

Ahangarani is also a documentary filmmaker and was active in MirHosein Mousavi’s campaign during the controversial 2009 presidential election, which ended in protests and the widespread arrest of political activists.

While there have been no official reports about the exact charges against Ahangarani some have suggested that the broadcast of her documentary “Deh Namakiha” on Persian BBC may be at the root of the charges against her.