SUBSCRIBE NOW

SIGHT

Be informed. Be challenged. Be inspired.

IRANIAN AUTHORITIES INCREASE PRESSURE ON US-IRANIAN PASTOR SAEED ABEDINI, SAYS ADVOCATE

4th May, 2015

Iranian authorities over the past month have increased pressure on imprisoned US-Iranian pastor Saeed Abedini by threatening to keep him in prison indefinitely, a legal advocate said.

Authorities seem to be taking a “carrot-and-stick” approach to Abedini – burying him under a mountain of new, petty charges while promising him freedom if he abandons his faith in Christ and converts back to Islam, said Tiffany Barrans, international director at the American Center for Law and Justice.

“They have said, “Don”t think you”ll get out after eight years. We”ll add additional reasons to keep you,”” she said. “That”s the kind of threat, in conjunction with an uptick of, “If you recant, if you return to Islam, we will let you go.” That”s not anything new, but it”s a very concentrated, intense time in the prison at present.”

The threat is not an idle one. In Gohardasht Prison, also known as Rajai-Shahr, pastor Farshid Fathi could face an additional two-year sentence after the imam of ward 10 accused him of insulting him. The imam filed the complaint after Fathi, along with other prisoners, defied his order for all Christian books in the ward to be inspected, according to Mohabat News. The imam did not have the legal authority to order the confiscation.

On 29th December, 2014, Fathi was sentenced to an additional year in prison after authorities accused him of having alcohol – Communion wine – in prison. He has appealed the decision.

“The psychological weight of (new charges against other Christians) certainly has been taking its toll, because Saeed has seen it come to reality for so many others,” Barrans said.

In October 2014, Iranian authorities sentenced three pastors, Behnam Irani, Abdolreza Ali-Haghnejad and Reza Rabbani, all leaders in the Church of Iran, to six years in prison for “actions against national security” and “creating a network to overthrow the system,” catch-all terms the Islamist government uses to suppress Christians and political opponents it perceives as threats. Originally authorities charged the men with “Mofsed-fel-arz” or “spreading corruption on Earth,” a charge that can carry the death penalty.

In July 2012, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard briefly arrested Abedini during his visit to set up an orphanage he was building. After interrogation, authorities placed Abedini under house arrest and told him to wait for a court summons to face criminal charges for his Christian faith.

Two months later, in September, he was arrested at his parents” home and taken to prison.

On 27th January, 2013, Abedini was sentenced to eight years in prison for allegedly threatening “national security” by planting house churches years ago. Abedini, whose 35th birthday is this Thursday (7th May), became a US citizen in 2010 and has a wife and two children in the United States. The Iranian government does not recognise his US citizenship.

Barrans said pressure on Abedini comes and goes in waves, but that the current round of ill treatment may be related to international efforts to limit Iran”s ability to produce nuclear weapons.

Iran has long been at the receiving end of a variety of devastating economic sanctions from the US government, the United Nations and others in an effort to stop its nuclear program. Iran wants to end the sanctions while maintaining as much of its program as possible.

“I can”t say there”s an actual causation, but certainly a possible correlation between the framework that was reached with the P5+1 countries,” Barrans said, referring to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany addressing Iran”s nuclear program.

“There”s just been an increased amount of activity and tension and threats and singling out of Saeed as an American in the prison since the framework agreement was reached between the countries. These nuclear negotiations have dramatically complicated the situation ” as much as our government insists that he is not a political pawn, and that they will not allow him to be used as a political pawn.”

Barrans said that if the US government “leaves the table without getting Abedini”s freedom, it makes things much more difficult to get his release.”

September marks Abedini”s third year in prison. According to Iranian law, most criminal offenders can apply for clemency or parole when they have served one-third of their sentences. Barrans said Abedini”s family is in the process of applying for that.

So far, their efforts for clemency have met with no results.

Morning Star News

Donate



sight plus logo

Sight+ is a new benefits program we’ve launched to reward people who have supported us with annual donations of $26 or more. To find out more about Sight+ and how you can support the work of Sight, head to our Sight+ page.

Musings

TAKE PART IN THE SIGHT READER SURVEY!

We’re interested to find out more about you, our readers, as we improve and expand our coverage and so we’re asking all of our readers to take this survey (it’ll only take a couple of minutes).

To take part in the survey, simply follow this link…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.