January 30 ,2013: An Iranian judge has sentenced Saeed Abedini, a 34-year-old American
citizen who was born in Iran, to eight years in the notorious Evin prison for engaging
in evangelization. Abedini, a convert from Islam, is a Protestant pastor who was involved
in the Iranian house-church movement. He returns to Iran frequently to visit his parents
and was arrested upon entry to Iran in August. “This trial apparently is focused
on 13 years ago, when Pastor Saeed converted from Islam to Christianity,” said Jordan
Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice. “We condemn Iran’s continued
violation of the universal right of freedom of religion and we call on the Iranian
authorities to respect Abedini's human rights and release him,” said a US State Department
spokesman.