American pastor sentenced to 8 years in Iran

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/american-pastor-sentenced-8-years-iran-000503847.html

1/27/13

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An American pastor who has been jailed in Iran since September has been sentenced to eight years in prison, the U.S. State Department said Sunday.

Spokesman Darby Holladay said the department is calling on Iran to respect Saeed Abedini's human rights and release him.

Earlier this month, Iran's semi-official news agency, ISNA, quoted Abedini's attorney, Nasser Sarbazi, as saying his client stood trial in the Revolutionary Court on charges of attempting to undermine state security by creating a network of Christian churches in private homes.

The pastor, who is of Iranian origin but lives in Boise, Idaho, has rejected the charges.

"Mr. Abedini's attorney had only one day (Jan. 21) to present his defense, so we remain deeply concerned about the fairness and transparency of Mr. Abedini's trial," Holladay said.

Following the court presentation, ISNA quoted Sarbazi as saying the court would issue its verdict later, and that Abedini would be allowed to leave Iran and meet his family in the U.S. after posting bail.

"The promise of his release was a lie," said the pastor's wife, Naghmeh. "With today's development, I am devastated for my husband and my family. We must now pursue every effort, turn every rock, and not stop until Saeed is safely on American soil."

Her comments were provided by the Washington-based American Center for Law and Justice, which focuses on constitutional and human rights law around the world. The center is representing the pastor's family in the United States.

Holladay said the State Department is in close contact with Abedini's family and actively engaged in the case. Abedini and his wife have two children.

"We condemn Iran's continued violation of the universal right of freedom of religion," Holladay said.

[Mark]

John Kerry Condemns Iran's Imprisonment of Pastor Saeed Abedini

John Kerry, who has been confirmed as the next U.S. Secretary of State, has condemned Iran for its imprisonment of U.S. Pastor Saeed Abedini in comments made on Tuesday...Adedini, the 32-year-old Iran-born pastor who was sentenced to 8 years in prison supposedly for "endangering national security" by helping underground churches, is appealing against the decision in what the ACLJ, which represents him, has called a "sham" trial...The pastor, who converted to Christianity in 2000.... 

MORE: http://www.christianpost.com/news/john-kerry-condemns-irans-imprisonment-of-pastor-saaed-abedini-89169/


Incoming Sec. of State Urges Release of Jailed Pastor

Incoming Secretary of State John Kerry criticized Iran for its imprisonment of Pastor Saeed Abedini in a written response to a question asked during his confirmation hearing last week.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/politics/2013/January/Incoming-Sec-of-State-Urges-Release-of-Jailed-Pastor/

[Psalm 51:17]

John Kerry Condemns Iran's Imprisonment of Pastor Saeed Abedini

John Kerry, who has been confirmed as the next U.S. Secretary of State, has condemned Iran for its imprisonment of U.S. Pastor Saeed Abedini in comments made on Tuesday...Adedini, the 32-year-old Iran-born pastor who was sentenced to 8 years in prison supposedly for "endangering national security" by helping underground churches, is appealing against the decision in what the ACLJ, which represents him, has called a "sham" trial...The pastor, who converted to Christianity in 2000.... 

MORE: http://www.christianpost.com/news/john-kerry-condemns-irans-imprisonment-of-pastor-saaed-abedini-89169/


Incoming Sec. of State Urges Release of Jailed Pastor

Incoming Secretary of State John Kerry criticized Iran for its imprisonment of Pastor Saeed Abedini in a written response to a question asked during his confirmation hearing last week.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/politics/2013/January/Incoming-Sec-of-State-Urges-Release-of-Jailed-Pastor/

Well, considering it came from the mouth of JOHN KERRY says alot! Not that I put any stock in this former Skull and Bonesman, but who knows if at the same time it's nothing but mumble jumble on his part.

2Tim_3:12  Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

[Mark]

Global Prayer Gatherings Set to Mark One Year American Pastor Has Been Imprisoned in Iran

Thousands are expected to attend prayer gatherings this Thursday for an American pastor who has been imprisoned in Iran for one year.
 
As previously reported, Saeed Abedini, who fled Iran in 2005 and moved to Idaho with his wife and two children, was arrested last year for allegedly threatening the national security of Iran by planting house churches a decade ago, and for attempting to turn youth in the nation away from Islam and toward Christianity. He had traveled to Iran to build an orphanage and visit his parents last fall, and was about to return to the states when he was taken into custody. Abedini was then sentenced to eight years in Iran’s Evin Prison, where he will have officially served time for one year on Thursday.
 
Abedini’s wife Naghmeh said that the ordeal is particularly difficult for the couple’s children.
 
“Every minute, every day Saeed is apart from us is more excruciating than the next,” she stated on behalf of her daughter Rebekka (7) and son Jacob (5). “This was the second year that Saeed missed Rebekka’s birthday. We had hoped that this past year would be the last she would ever have to celebrate without Daddy. Now, I am faced with the painful realization that our kids are growing up without their father. We are praying for a miracle just to be able to see him again.”

However, Naghmeh also told students at Liberty University this past week that her husband has led over two dozen prisoners to Christ since being incarcerated.
 
“They’ve told him many times that they would free him and allow him to return to our family, the kids and I, if he would deny his Christian faith, and he’s stood strong in that prison. He’s led many, many–over 30 people–to Christ in that prison,” she explained.
 
On Thursday, supporters in over 70 cities across the U.S. and around the world will join together to pray for Abedini’s release as gatherings are scheduled to mark one year that the pastor has served in prison.

rest:http://christiannews.net/2013/09/21/global-prayer-gatherings-set-to-mark-one-year-american-pastor-has-been-imprisoned-in-iran/

[Psalm 51:17]

Iranian-American pastor held in Iran reportedly moved to more dangerous prison
11/4/13
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/11/04/iranian-american-pastor-held-in-iran-reportedly-moved-to-more-dangerous-prison/

The Iranian-American pastor being held in Iran  has now been transferred to a more dangerous prison where he faces life-threatening conditions, according to his family and attorneys.

When a member of Saeed Abedini’s family went to visit him at Evin Prison, a facility in Tehran where he has been kept for over a year, he was told that the pastor had been moved about an hour and a half away to Rajai Shahr Prison in the town of Karaj.

The family member then travelled to Rajai Shahr Prison and was told that the pastor is being kept there, but is not permitted to have any visitors, according to the American Center for Law and Justice, the pastor’s U.S.-based attorneys.

According to inside sources, this new prison in Karaj is an even more dangerous facility, where violent prisoners, typically imprisoned for murder and ****, are held.

Abedini, 33, an American citizen who lives in Boise, Idaho, with his wife and two children, has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment, following his arrest on a bus. His supporters say he has been beaten and tortured in the prison, and that he was only in Iran to try to start a secular orphanage.

The pastor’s mysterious transfer brings new concerns to his family and attorneys, who have been closely monitoring his medical and psychological condition.

President Obama called for the pastor’s release in his phone call to Iran’s new President Rouhani in September. 

There has been wide bi-partisan support in the Senate and Congress for the pastor’s immediate release.

Secretary of State John Kerry also urged the Iranian regime to release him earlier this year.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/11/25/wife-imprisoned-pastor-says-family-devastated-after-iran-deal/
11/25/13
Wife of imprisoned pastor says family devastated after Iran deal fails to secure his release

The wife of imprisoned American pastor Saeed Abedini says she and her family are devastated after learning that the Obama administration did not try to secure the release of her husband as part of the newly signed deal on Iran's nuclear program.

Saeed Abedini, an American citizen, has been imprisoned in Iran for more than a year for practicing Christianity. The talks over Iran's nuclear program were seen by his family and those representing them as one of the most promising avenues yet for securing his release.

But the White House confirmed over the weekend that Abedini's status was not on the table during those talks.

"It's devastating," the pastor's wife Naghmeh Abedini told Fox News Radio.

She said her children were praying to have him home for the holidays. "It's unbearable," she said, "to think of another Christmas without him and see my kids not have him home for Christmas."

After the nuclear deal announced over the weekend, Abedini said she doesn't see "any more leverage left."

"Iran has no incentive for them to release him. I don't think we have any more leverage," she said. "We now have to consider other avenues and having other countries speak out because our country when we could have used our leverage chose to stay silent."

Abedini and others were hopeful after President Obama personally raised Abedini's plight in a phone conversation with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in September.

As the matter appeared to languish, the American Center for Law and Justice, which represents the Abedini family, sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry urging him to demand Abedini's release as a condition of any agreement on Iran's nuclear program.

The deal announced over the weekend, though, included no mention of Abedini. Obama also did not mention the pastor's case when he made brief remarks from the White House late Saturday night, announcing a six-month plan to suspend parts of Iran's nuclear program in exchange for a rollback of some sanctions.

Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the ACLJ, accused Obama and Kerry of having "turned their backs on a U.S. citizen."

Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the National Security Council, confirmed that the Iran talks "focused exclusively on nuclear issues," though said the U.S. "has certainly raised" Abedini's case and that of other imprisoned Americans as part of bilateral discussions.

Another case that has recently drawn public attention is that of Amir Hekmati, a U.S. Marine who was arrested in Iran in 2011 while visiting his grandmother.   

He was detained on charges of spying for the CIA and sentenced to death. His family says the confession was coerced.

The FBI also reported that, as of this Tuesday, former FBI official Robert Levinson will become one of the longest-held Americans in history -- he went missing after traveling to an island off Iran in March 2007; the U.S. government has since received indications he's being held.