Pastor Saeed Abedini's wife Naghmeh is not stopping until she gets her husband out of prison in Iran, and one of her latest efforts was to speak before over 100 parliamentarians from 50 countries during a gathering hosted by the International Panel of Parliamentarians over the weekend.
From that number, 67 parliamentarians from various countries agreed to sign a letter to Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, asking him to help free Saeed and ensure the equal treatment of people with different beliefs in their country.
The signatories came from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chad, Chile, Costa Rica, Egypt, El Salvador, Georgia, Germany, Honduras, India, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Lithuania, Malawi, Myanmar, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Taiwan, Tunisia, United Kingdom, and Uruguay.
"We respectfully ask you to ensure that all individuals in Iran, be they Muslim, Christian, Bahá'í, Atheist, Zoroastrian, Jew or from another faith, can fully enjoy freedom of religion or belief without fear of violence or discrimination," the letter said.
"We are particularly concerned about Pastor Saeed Abedini, who has been jailed for nearly three years. We understand he has been held in intolerable conditions for merely peacefully exercising his faith in private homes. We specifically request the release of Mr. Abedini, as well as other Christians, including Behnam Irani, Maryam (Naseem) Naghash-Zargaran, Ebrahim Firouzi, and Ata Babaei, who are detained apparently for no other reason than the peaceful exercise of their Christian faith," the letter added.
The letter also expressed grave concern regarding the recent closures of churches in Iran, denying Christians their right to assemble peacefully in prayer and reflection.
Meanwhile, Naghmeh visited her husband at Rajaei Shahr prison in Iran early this week and heard disturbing news about possible new charges being brought against Pastor Saeed, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) said.
The ACLJ said Iranian intelligence officers summoned Pastor Saeed for an "intense round of interrogation" on Wednesday. "Pastor Saeed reported to his family that the interrogators were abusive both verbally and physically. During the course of interrogation, the officers repeatedly used a taser gun on Pastor Saeed," the ACLJ said.
According to the Christian-based organisation, the interrogators threatened to slap Abedini with new criminal charges, claiming that he has connections with anti-Iranian government groups and has "made statements and taken actions against the government of Iran."
Abedini once again denied all the allegations, saying "he is apolitical and that he has never threatened the security of, made any statements against, or taken any action against the Government of Iran."
The ACLJ also announced that a massive letter-writing campaign to free Abedini is continuing worldwide. "We have gathered over 265,000 letters that are being shipped every day to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging him to meet with Iranian leaders and demand compliance with international human rights norms," the ACLJ said in a statement posted on its website, aclj.org.
