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Paul Haggis, Sean Penn, Martin Scorsese and Harvey Weinstein Join Amnesty International to Condemn Harsh Sentence for Acclaimed Iranian Director Jafar Panahi.

(New York) -- Academy Award winners Paul Haggis, Martin Scorsese and Sean Penn, along with film producer and movie studio chairman Harvey Weinstein, have joined forces with British-Iranian actress and Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) spokesperson Nazanin Boniadi to condemn the harsh sentence imposed on distinguished Iranian film director Jafar Panahi.

Both Panahi and his artistic collaborator, Mohammad Rasoulof, have been given six-year prison sentences after being convicted of "propaganda against the state." Panahi was also sentenced with a twenty-year total ban on artistic activities. The Hollywood greats have signed a petition, which Boniadi initiated with AIUSA, to urge Iranian authorities to overturn Panahi's sentence --and encouraged others to go to www.amnestyusa.org to do the same.

"As someone who has often gotten in trouble for opening his mouth, it is hard to fathom the idea of being incarcerated for six years simply for speaking my mind, or to be banned from making films for 20 years," said Haggis, who is best known for becoming the first screenwriter to write two Best Film Oscar winner... >>>