Iran to Free Film-Maker Panahi on Bail: Prosecutor

Celebrated Iranian film director Jafar Panahi, jailed since March, is to be freed on bail, Tehran's public prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said today.

ISNA news agency cited the prosecutor saying that administrative and judicial steps for Panahi's release were underway.

"It has been decided that he (Panahi) will be freed on bail," the prosecutor was quoted as saying, before adding he had met Panahi at Tehran's notorious Evin prison on Thursday.

"During the meeting his request to be released before the trial was examined and accepted," the prosecutor said, though he did not elaborate on any details on the bailing conditions.

Panahi, 49, is a vocal backer of Iran's opposition movement who was arrested at his home on March 1 along with 16 other people, including his wife and daughter. They were subsequently released but Panahi still remains under detention.

Panahi’s detention caught media spotlight partly due to the French actress Juliette Binoche who, while receiving her award for Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday, carried a large sign with the name of Jafar Panahi on it – a sign of protest against the Iranian authorities and a claim to set him free.