Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has been sentenced to six years in prison and banned from making films, making political statements, doing media interviews or travelling abroad for 20 years.

His lawyer said that Panahi was convicted of national security violations. Panahi has been an outspoken supporter of the opposition green movement.

His collaborator Mohammed Rasoulof was also sentenced to six years in jail.

His lawyer says Panahi plans to appeal.

Panahi’s internationally acclaimed films include The White Balloon, The Circle, Crimson Gold and Offside. He was recently invited to be a juror at the 2011 Berlinale. He had been unable to serve on Cannes 2010’s jury because he had been arrested in Iran.

There was an international outcry at that time, with support for Panahi coming from the likes of Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and Juliette Binoche.

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