Washington D.C., Apr 18, 2013 / 01:07 am
Human rights advocates are warning that the health of an American citizen imprisoned in Iran for his Christian faith is rapidly deteriorating due to physical and psychological abuse.
For months, said Jordan Sekulow, executive director for the American Center for Law and Justice, Pastor Saeed Abedini "has been suffering from internal bleeding" cause by "injuries received from the beatings in prison."
"In what could only be viewed as a cruel act of psychological abuse, prison officials took Pastor Saeed to a hospital last week – only to be turned away – and brought back to Evin prison without receiving medical treatment for his internal bleeding," Sekulow said in an April 15 blog post.
A native of Iran, Abedini was raised as a Muslim but converted to Christianity in 2000. He became an American citizen in 2010 after marrying an American woman.