Jafar Panahi Loses Appeal Against Jail Term

Jafar Panahi has lost his appeal against his six-year prison sentence for campaigning against the country's government.

The filmmaker , a vocal supporter of the country's opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi, was convicted last year (10) of protesting against the political regime and for acting against national security.

He was ordered to serve time behind bars and handed a 20-year travel and filmmaking ban.

His lawyers have been fighting the punishment in court in Tehran, but their appeal was recently rejected, his family have revealed to Afp.

Panahi was handed the punishment alongside fellow filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, who was also given six years in prison.

A slew of celebrities including actor Sean Penn, director Martin Scorsese and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein have all lent their support to an Amnesty International campaign calling for the pair's release.