On behalf of Berlinale protested against the arrest of
Jafar Panahi, detained on 1 March 2010 along with
Mohammad Rasoulof and
Mehdi Pourmoussa. "Prior to his arrest, Panahi had been denied permission to leave his home country for Berlin, where he was to be an honorary guest of the 60th Berlinale and, within the scope of the World Cinema Fund, participate in a panel discussion on the topic 'Iranian Cinema: Present and Future. Expectations Inside and Outside of Iran'. We are concerned and dismayed that a director who has won many international prizes has been arrested due to his work as an artist." Pourmoussa and Rasoulof were released from the Evin prison on 17 March 2010, but Panahi remains in ward 209.