An Artist in Crisis

I had no idea that the filmmaker Jafar Panahi had been arrested and imprisoned.

But this report says that things are worse than that.

Taherah Saeedi, the wife of film director Jafar Panahi,who was arrested on 2 March 2010, has published a report about her husband’s condition in solitary confinement that has rendered him immobile and under emotional stress. She stated that in the past, her husband has twice experienced severe spasms in his chest for which he was taken to the emergency room. The attending physician diagnosed his condition to be psychological and said that if it continued he could  suffer a heart attack.

IFC has further commentary on the situation here.

But it's still incredibly disturbing.