Iran, si converte al cristianesimo condannato a otto anni di carcere - American pastor sentenced to eight years in Iranian prison for preaching Christianity in homes

Fonte: La Stampa

Il pastore evangelico è accusato di minacce alla sicurezza interna

Un pastore evangelico irano-americano convertito al cristianesimo è stato condannato a 8 anni di prigione da un tribunale di Teheran per proselitismo e gestione di una «chiesa sotterranea». La notizia è stata diffusa dall’American Center for Law and Justice (Aclj), un’organizzazione statunitense a difesa dei diritti umani e della libertà religiosa. Saeed Abedini - nato e cresciuto in Iran, convertitosi al cristianesimo a 20 anni e dal 2002 sposato a una statunitense - è stato condannato per minacce alla sicurezza interna iraniana. Secondo il gruppo, il pastore evangelico e il suo avvocato hanno potuto presenziare solo a una giornata del processo. La portavoce del Dipartimento di Stato americano, Victoria Nuland, venerdì ha ripetuto l’auspicio di Washington per un processo «equo».


Source: MailOnLine

American pastor sentenced to eight years in Iranian prison for preaching Christianity in homes

An American pastor from Idaho has been sentenced to eight years in one of Iran's harshest prisons for preaching Christianity in Iranian homes, it was revealed today.

Saeed Abedini, a U.S. citizen who was born in Iran, has been held since September and charged with 'threatening the national security of Iran. 

The 32-year-old father of two says he was in the country only to establish and orphanage and was not preaching Christianity.

The American Center for Law and Justice, which is working with Mr Abedini's family to free him from Iranian custody, says the pastor led house churches in the Islamic nation in the early 2000s, when the state did not consider such activities a threat. 

'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,' Mr Abedini's devastated wife Naghmeh, said.

Mr Abedini is being held in Evin Prison in Tehran, the infamous gulag that houses most of the country's political prisoners. 

The ACLJ, a legal advocacy group founded by televangelist Pat Robertson, reports that Revolutionary Court Judge Pir-Abassi convicted and sentenced Mr Abedini after a hastily-called court hearing.

The group says that the ruling violated Iran's judicial rules and was motivated purely by politics. 

'We know that with the Iranian Revolutionary Court, Pastor Saeed’s conviction and sentence had to be approved at the very top – The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei had to sign off,' Jordan Sekulow, the director of international operations, wrote. 

The ACLJ says that Mr Abedini was beaten and tortured while in Iranian custody. 

He and his attorney were allowed to attend just one day of his trial, which began on January 21. 

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney and the State Department have both called for Mr Abedini's release, thought the Iranian government has clearly ignored the request.

Iranian officials had previously said they were planning to release the pastor, so the news that he was sentenced to eight years in a harsh prison came as a shock to his family and supporters.