By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Coorespondent
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Worthy News)-- Supporters of an American pastor imprisoned in Iran for his faith have appealed to the UN for help.
The European Centre for Law and Justice filed a formal request with the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva for Iran to immediately release Saeed Abedini, who is currently serving an eight-year prison sentence in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison.
The ECLJ has special consultative status at the UN and its HRC.
Saeed, a 32-year-old American citizen and father of two, left his home in Idaho last summer to help build an orphanage in Iran, his native country. However, as soon as Saeed arrived, he was arrested for establishing a home-based Christian ministry in the Islamic republic 10 years ago.
“By bringing his story before a global audience, it's our hope that member states and other organizations will become a strong voice for Pastor Saeed, raising the visibility of this troubling case and putting additional pressure on Iran to free him,” said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice. “There is no better case for the HRC to engage than that of Pastor Saeed: a U.S. citizen imprisoned in a nation that not only rejects religious freedom and human rights laws, but exhibits a hostile disdain for international law that protects the most basic rights of people around the world.”
Abedini's relatives said he is unaware of the international efforts to secure his freedom as he has been unable to communicate with his wife and their children since his sentencing.