Imprisoned American says Iranian captors ‘waiting for me to deny Christ’
ICC Note: Saeed Abedini, an American pastor sentenced to eight years in prison for his Christian faith in Iran, said he is enduring “horrific pressures” to renounce his faith in Christ, Saeed’s supporters told Fox News. “My eyes get blurry, my body does not have the strength to walk, and my steps become very weak and shaky,” Saeed recently wrote to his family. “They are only waiting for one thing…for me to deny Christ. But they will never get this from me.”
By Lisa Daftari
2/22/2013 Iran (Fox News) – American pastor Saeed Abedini, jailed in a notoriously brutal Iranian prison for his Christian faith, is facing physical and psychological torture at the hands of captors demanding he renounce his beliefs, according to supporters.
The 32-year-old married father of two, who left his home in Boise, Idaho, to help start an orphanage in his latest country, detailed “horrific pressures” and “death threats,” is a letter to family members, according to his U.S.-based attorneys.
“My eyes get blurry, my body does not have the strength to walk, and my steps become very weak and shaky,” read the letter, sneaked out of Evin prison in Tehran. “They are only waiting for one thing…for me to deny Christ. But they will never get this from me.”
Abedini was sentenced to eight years in prison for threatening the national security of Iran through his leadership in Christian house churches. The American Center for Law and Justice has provided legal support for Abedini’s family in the U.S. and is working through various government means to help win the pastor’s release. ACLJ Executive Director Jordan Sekulow said the fact that the torture is happening after Abedini’s trial, a sham he and his attorney were not even allowed to attend, is particularly chilling.
“This is post conviction,” Sekulow said. “This isn’t about a trial. This is about life, and the message is you will be treated this way until you become a Muslim.”
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