Imprisoned dissident Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Nourizad said he has been sentenced to an additional 61 months in prison based on charges filed against him while he has been incarcerated in Tehran's notorious Evin prison.
In a phone call from Evin Prison, Nourizad said the prison warden had informed him that the sentence was handed down because of his protest activities within the prison and for "breaking the ward's telephones."
"When I see a major theft, I cannot remain silent. Nearly 900 billion rials ($1.5 million) were stolen from the total funds of Iranian prisoners.... Everyone else chose to remain silent, but I protested and took action," he said.
Nourizad, a former journalist for the conservative Kayhan daily, is one of the 14 civil and political activists who in June 2018 called for the resignation of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The outspoken Nourizad, who has written and directed several films, has since 2019 been serving a prison sentence totaling over 17 years.
Criticism of Khamenei, who has the final say on almost every important decision in Iran, is considered a red line by the regime and his critics often land in prison, where political prisoners are routinely held in solitary confinement and subjected to various forms of torture.
Nourizad was initially sentenced to 15 years in prison, two years of exile, and a two-year ban from leaving the country. A court ruling in August last year reduced his sentence to eight months in jail, 74 lashes, and one year of exile.
Before this, Nourizad had been sentenced in two separate cases during his imprisonment.
He said in the call that he did not attend the court for this latest case, did not accept the verdict, and did not protest it.