International attention keeping pastors alive
ICC Note:
Youcef Nadarkhani and Behrouz Sadegh-Khandjani, both Iranian pastors, remain in prison for their faith. Nadarkhani has been charged with the death penalty, although the final verdict has been postponed until a later date. Some credit the international media for exposing Iran’s lack of regard for human rights which has in turn helped to delay the sentence.
By Charlie Butts
11/10/2010 Iran (OneNewsNow) – Present Truth Ministries is shining a spotlight on two non-denominational Christian pastors in Iran who have been taken captive by Iranian authorities.
Pastors Youcef Nadarkhani and Behrouz Sadegh-Khandjani are currently being kept from any outside contact, including their attorneys. One pastor got the government’s attention and has received the death penalty for staging a protest because children are only taught about Islam in schools. The other was supposed to speak on behalf of three arrested Christians, but he was taken to jail instead.
Jason DeMars of Present Truth Ministries says it is unknown whether or not the two have been tortured, but they are “subjected to sleep deprivation from time to time.” In the case of the second pastor, security officials even “sought to give him pills that would affect his mental state and would allow them to claim that he is insane.”
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