Joined: 08/23/2004 Location: United States
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Posted: 01/13/2013 at 5:49pm
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A letter from the Depths of an Iranian Prison from a U.S. Minister
By Dan Wooding Founder of ASSIST Ministries
TEHRAN, IRAN (ANS) -- A letter from Saeed Abedini, a U.S. minister imprisoned in Iran, has made its way, through family members, to the Assemblies of God national offices in the United States.
Saeed Abedini and his family via ACLJ
The letter, carried out from Iran's notoriously brutal Evin Prison, in northwestern Tehran, tells of beatings and interrogations, around-the-clock bright lights and ongoing lies designed to create hope, in order to crush it.
According to a story from Dan Van Veen of the AG News & Information Service (www.ag.org), "The remarkable letter also reveals a depth of faith and compassion that could only be granted by God."
Pastor Saeed Abedini, a U.S. minister, has been imprisoned in Evin Prison in Tehran for his faith since Iranian authorities removed him from a bus in September 2012 while he was visiting his homeland.
Recently, Naghmeh, Abedini's wife, received a letter from her husband through family members who were able to visit him in prison. Naghmeh passed the letter on to Assemblies of God (AG) General Superintendent Dr. George O. Wood, with the encouragement to share the letter with everyone.
Sign outside the prison
"Saeed's letter is nothing short of a modern-day Pauline epistle," states Dr. Wood. "As I read his letter through several times, I could only marvel at how God's faithfulness transcends time as the same Holy Spirit that was with Paul in his times of desperation is fully evident in the words of our brother Saeed."
"I always wanted God to make me a godly man," Saeed writes in his letter. "I did not realize that in order to become a godly man we need to become like steel under pressure. It is a hard process of warm and cold to make steel. The process in my life today is one day I was told I will be freed on bail to see my family and kids on Christmas (they are all lies) and the next day I am told I will hang for my faith in Jesus."
"It's amazing to me how this letter, from an imprisoned pastor, inspires and ministers to me when he, it would seem, is the one who needs our prayers," Wood states. "I encourage believers to allow this letter to inspire them to greater things, to pass it on to friends and to continue to uplift Saeed, Naghmeh and their two young children to God in prayer."
Joined: 08/23/2004 Location: United States
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Posted: 01/13/2013 at 6:25pm
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American Pastor Saeed Abedini Handed Over to Iran's 'Hanging Judge'
American Pastor Saeed Abedini's case was assigned to Judge Pir-Abassi, a judge notorious for his harsh sentences against those who exercise their fundamental freedoms. (ACLJ)
American Pastor Saeed Abedini, who is being held in one of Iran’s most abusive prisons because of his Christian faith, faces a new challenge. His case was just transferred to a judge who is notorious for violating human rights.
Over this past weekend, the case of American Pastor Saeed Abedini was referred by the local Iranian prosecutor to Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. The case was assigned to Judge Pir-Abassi, a judge notorious for his harsh sentences against those who exercise their fundamental freedoms. In the international law arena, Judge Pir-Abassi is often referred to as one of Iran’s "hanging judges" for the numerous individuals he has sent to the gallows.
In April 2011, the European Union named Judge Pir-Abassi as an individual subject to sanctions for human rights violations. According to the Official Journal of the European Union, Judge Pir-Abassi presided over numerous unfair trials of human rights activists following the 2009 election, handing down long prison sentences and several death sentences to those convicted.
Additionally, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended to the State Department in its 2012 Annual report that the U.S. government similarly issue sanctions against Judge Pir-Abassi. The Commission stated that Judge Pir-Abassi is “responsible for particularly severe violations of religious freedom” and the U.S. should “continue to bar from entry into the United States and freeze [his and his immediate family members’] assets.” The U.S. State Department has not, to date, sanctioned Judge Pir-Abassi.
And although the State Department is aware that an American citizen’s fate lies in the hands of a noted human rights abuser, it remains inactive. To date, the State Department, while acknowledging the case, has thus far refused to take decisive action on this American citizen’s behalf. It is an absolute travesty that the U.S. government would standby idly while an American citizen, detained for his exercise of a fundamental human right, deteriorates in an Iranian prison.
This new development is highly troubling—it appears Iran is determined to remove any chance of the American pastor receiving any semblance of a fair trial. Even more troubling is that the U.S. government has remained silent, essentially abandoning this American in his search for justice.
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