By Stoyan Zaimov
U.S. pastor Saeed Abedini was reportedly pinned down and shackled on Wednesday at an Iranian hospital, where he was also denied much needed surgery.
“This morning Iranian guards lashed out violently against Pastor Saeed and an elderly relative who had been able to visit him in the hospital. Pastor Saeed was pinned down and shackled. His elderly relative was roughly handled and expelled from the hospital,” the American Center for Law and Justice, which represents Abedini’s wife and two children in the U.S, stated.
According to the law group, Abedini was moved over a week ago from Rajai Shahr Prison to a private hospital in Iran where he underwent various tests for a deteriorating medical condition and received nourishment. And although he was promised that he would undergo surgery to address chronic pain in his stomach area – the result of numerous prison beatings – Abedini was sent back to the prison without being treated and doctors giving him nothing more than pain medication.
The American pastor’s wife, Naghmeh, has been campaigning for his release from Iranian prison since his arrest in July 2012 while working on an orphanage project. Accused of endangering national security, Abedini was later sentenced to eight years in prison. The ACLJ, which has launched numerous petitions on his behalf, says the conviction has more to do with the pastor’s Christian faith.