{"id":2134,"date":"2013-01-28T20:58:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-28T20:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/irans-eight-year-sentence-for-christian-pastor-draws-outcry\/"},"modified":"2013-01-28T20:58:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-28T20:58:00","slug":"irans-eight-year-sentence-for-christian-pastor-draws-outcry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/irans-eight-year-sentence-for-christian-pastor-draws-outcry\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran’s eight-year sentence for Christian pastor draws outcry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Washington D.C., Jan 28, 2013 \/ 01:58 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Christian pastor Saeed Abedini's sentence of eight years in prison by an Iranian judge for allegedly threatening local security with his leadership of house churches has been met with harsh criticism.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThis is a real travesty \u2013 a mockery of justice,\u201d said Jordan Sekulow, the director of the American Center for Law and Justice which represents Abedini's family living in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIran has not only abused its own laws, it has trampled on the fundamentals of human rights. We call on the citizens of the world to rise up in protest. We call on governments around the world to stand and defend Pastor Saeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tOn Jan. 27 judge Pir-Abassi of the Iranian Revolutionary Court convicted and verbally sentenced Abedini.<\/p>\n

\tHis trial began Jan. 21, and both Abedini and his attorney were allowed to attend only one day. His sentence was approved by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, according to the American Center for Law and Justice.<\/p>\n

\tNasser Sarbazi, Abedini's attorney, defended his Christian activities the single day he was allowed at the trial. He argued they do not threaten Iran's national security, and are motivated not by politics but by religion.<\/p>\n

\tAbedini is a native of Iran, but has United States citizenship. He was granted citizenship in 2010 through marriage to his American wife.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cHere\u2019s the troubling reality,\u201d Sekulow added. \u201cWe have a U.S. citizen, who has been beaten and tortured since him imprisonment last fall, now facing eight years in Evin Prison, one of the most brutal prisons in Iran. A harsh sentence in a notorious prison \u2013 likely facing life-threatening torture and abuse at the hands of the Iranian regime.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe U.S. state department stated at a Jan. 25 press briefing that \u201cwe remain very concerned\u201d about Abedini, and about \u201cthe fairness and transparency of his trial.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe condemn Iran\u2019s continued violation of the universal rights of freedom of religion, and we call on the Iranian authorities to respect Mr. Abedini\u2019s human rights and to release him. We are in close contact with his family as well and we\u2019re actively engaged in the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAbedini converted from Islam to Christianity in 2000, and in 2008 became an evangelical pastor.<\/p>\n

\tIran had demanded that he stop working with house churches. Though they are technically legal, the regime claims that he had tried to turn young Iranians from Islam, the state religion.<\/p>\n

\tAbedini agreed to this in 2009, moving his focus from churches to non-religious orphanages. Despite this, he was arrested in September while on a trip to work with these orphanages and to visit his family.<\/p>\n

\tOn Jan. 21 a semi-official Iranian news agency stated Abedini would be released for a $116,000 bail, but this proved to be false. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe promise of his release was a lie,\u201d said Naghmeh, Abedini's wife. \u201cWe should not trust the empty
\n\twords or promises put out by the Iranian government.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tSeveral members of the U.S. House and Senate, along with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, have called for Abedini\u2019s freedom.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington D.C., Jan 28, 2013 \/ 01:58 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Christian pastor Saeed Abedini's sentence of eight years in prison by an Iranian judge for allegedly threatening local security with his leadership of house churches has been met with harsh…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nIran's eight-year sentence for Christian pastor draws outcry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Jan 28, 2013 \/ 01:58 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Christian pastor Saeed Abedini's sentence of eight years in prison by an Iranian judge for allegedly threatening local security with his leadership of house churches has been met with harsh...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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