Brussels, 19/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton called on Iran, on Tuesday 18 October, to review the sentences imposed on filmmaker Jafar Panahi, whose six-year term of imprisonment has just been upheld by the court of appeal, and actress Marzieh Vafamehr, condemned to one year in prison and 90 lashes, following her part in a film referring to the difficult conditions in which artists operate in Iran. Ashton says she is “disturbed” by the sentences, and calls on Iran to put an end to the persecution of members of its artistic community. “Such treatment is incompatible with the international human rights principles that Iran has freely signed up to”, she states. The use of corporal punishment - “which amounts to torture” - is incompatible with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 19 of which enshrines the right to freedom of expression through art and writing. (CG/transl.rt)