MUMBAI: The Iranian government has sentenced filmmaker Jafar Panahi to six years imprisonment for standing in opposition to the ruling system. In addition, the filmmaker was banned from making films or traveling abroad for 20 years.

49 year old Panahi supported Mir Hossein Mousavi in last June‘s contested presidential election against incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"This is a catastrophe for Iran‘s cinema," Professor Hamid Dabashi of Columbia University told in a story about the sentencing. He goes on to say that the sentencing is a blow to the entire arts community in Iran.

"By the act, Iran has sent a clear message that they don‘t have any tolerance and can‘t bear arts, philosophy or anything like that. This is a sentence against the whole culture of Iran. They want the artists to sit in their houses and stop creating art. This is a catastrophe for a whole nation, Dabashi said."