Posted on 02/01/2013 4:58:17 PM PST by yoe
A pastor from Boise is being held in prison in Iran for the second time in less than five years. His lawyer said it's because of his Christian beliefs.
The American Center for Law and Justice is representing Saeed Abedini's family here in the United States. ACLJ is also launching a campaign to get the United Nations, US State Department, and Congress to demand Abedini's release.
KTVB took video of Abedini and his family in 2009, when he got back from another incident in the Middle East. In 2009, he was held in Tehran for about two months and threatened with his life for helping Christians meet in underground churches. The ACLJ said an Iranian court indicted Abedini, and he could face a long prison term, or even the death penalty.
His family is hoping for another happy end the story again this time.
"It's very difficult for me and the kids, first time daddy's away. And I just plead that we do what we can to get him out of Iran and with the family again, with our family and with the kids," said Naghmeh Panahi, Saeed Abedini's wife, on the Jordan Sekulow Show.
Panahi said Abedini was born in Iran, and came from a strong Muslim faith. He converted to Christianity in 2000. The ACLJ said he became an ordained minister in 2008. Abedini gained US citizenship when he married Naghmeh Panahi in 2010.
However, the Iranian government does not recognize Abedini's US citizenship. His lawyers said he was visiting family this September when he was arrested and placed in an Iranian prison.
"We've got a US citizen that's being detained in a horrible facility in Iran and we've got to do everything we can globally to get him released, because right now, Sean, the situation is grave," said Jay Sekulow, from ACLJ, on Sean Hannity's show on FOX News.
Sekulow said the prison where Abedini is being held is notoriously brutal. Abedini and his wife Panahi have two children, a 6-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son. His wife said he last made contact with his family over the phone Wednesday morning.
The specifics of what Abedini is charged with have not been made public.
(Office of Inspector General Hotline) Light up that switch board
- (contact your Senators) ask for a reply as to what they are doing for an American citizen being held by a hostel nation.
(contact your congressman)...ask for a follow up. Ask your church to post a bulletin about Saeed Abedini's plight. Don't let Islam win this!
(Senator Clinton asked to help...)
(...sent to prison for 8 years...)
WHERE?....like her husband and like most libs...they go AWOL when things get tough, make excuses or tell lies in order to cover up their incompetence and willingness to “forget” what is not on their agenda.
I can't believe they haven't hacked his head off already. Isn't converting to Christianity an automatic death sentence carried out immediately?
This guy is either a slow learner or wants to be a martyr. I’m assuming the latter. However, when you set out to be a martyr, and someone obliges, sympathy from others needs to be measured.
If the Iranians let him go, again, will he ever go back to Iran? If the answer is “yes”, then what he is doing is amounting to suicide by proxy.
Great idea! I will do just that. I have signed a petition with the ACLJ for his release... him and pastor Youcef also. I would suggest to everybody to go to the ACLJ website and sign both petitions.
Hillary is not the Sec State anymore. Kerry is now on the case:
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