"I Am Told I Will Hang For My Faith In Jesus"
Jesus Speaking to His Followers...
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. ~ John 15:18,19
Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter — Pastor Saeed Abedini, an American citizen born in Iran, is facing a quick trial in Tehran on Jan. 21 and has expressed fears that he might be given the death penalty for his Christian work.
The American Center for Law and Justice shared an update with The Christian Post about the pastor's case, and revealed that his attorney in Iran has been allowed to see the court file only very recently – to discover that the pastor's trial date is set for Monday, Jan. 21, less than one week from now.
"It is an outrage that Pastor Saeed's trial date and charge against him would be withheld from his legal counsel until less than a week before the trial itself. Not only is Iran violating Pastor Saeed's fundamental freedom of religion, but it is making a mockery of justice," Jordan Sekulow, Executive Director of the American Center for Law and Justice, said in a statement. The ACLJ is representing the pastor's family, his wife and two children, who are in the U.S.
Pastor Abedini's case was also recently transferred over to a notorious "hanging judge" in Iran, named in 2011 by the European Union as an individual subject to sanctions for human rights violations for sentencing a number of human right activists to death.
In a letter to his wife, Naghmeh, the 32-year-old pastor recently expressed his fears that he might indeed be facing the death penalty, and revealed some of the interrogation techniques that have been used against him in Evin Prison in Tehran.
"This is the process in my life today: one day I am told I will be freed and allowed to see my kids on Christmas (which was a lie) and the next day I am told I will hang for my faith in Jesus," Pastor Abedini wrote. "One day there are intense pains after beatings in interrogations, the next day they are nice to you and offer you candy."
[...] The law group claims that Iranian authorities have even confiscated more than $105,000 from an Iranian bank account given to Abedini in donations for a local orphanage project.
The U.S. State Department recently revealed its "serious concerns" for the pastor's imprisonment, but stopped short of calling for his immediate release. The ACLJ has urged the State Department to take a stronger stand on the issue and offer better protection for Americans persecuted in other countries for their Christian faith.
More than 66,000 people have already signed a petition urging for Pastor Abedini's release from prison, and the ACLJ is hopeful that intense international pressure will eventually lead to his freedom, such as in Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani's case. » Read More
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