Abedini is a former Muslim who converted to Christianity in 2000. While Christianity is recognized as a minority religion under the Iranian constitution Muslim converts to Christianity suffer discrimination at the hands of Iranian authorities. In the early 2000s, Abedini became prominent in the house church movement in Iran. During this period, Abedini is credited with establishing about 100 house churches in 30 Iranian cities with more than 2,000 members. In July 2012, Abedini made his ninth trip to Iran since 2009 to visit his family and continue his work to build an orphanage in the city of Rasht. While in the country, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confiscated his passports and placed him under house arrest. On January 27, 2013, Judge Pir-Abassi sentenced Abedini to eight years in prison. According to Fox News, Abedini was sentenced for having undermined the Iranian government by creating a network of Christian house churches and ... attempting to sway Iranian youth away from Islam. The evidence against Abedini was based primarily on his activities in the early 2000s. The U.S. State Department condemned the sentence: We condemn Irans continued violation of the universal right of freedom of religion and we call on the Iranian authorities to respect Mr. Abedinis human rights and release him. Here is a music video made in support of Pastor Saeed Abendini. Please pray for his safety and release. youtu.be/oJclB99fK74
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 01:08:29 +0000