BERLIN – The Iranian authorities released Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani on Monday
after a second period of incarceration due to his Christian
beliefs.
Jordan Sekulow, the executive director of the American Center
for Law and Justice (ACLJ), wrote in a post on his organization’s website that
“a leader in Pastor Youcef’s church has confirmed to the ACLJ that Iranian
authorities released Pastor Youcef from prison shortly after 1:30
p.m. near Rasht, Iran.”
The authorities rearrested Nadarkhani on
Christmas.
He was previously imprisoned for nearly three years for
creating a church and questioning the compulsory Islamic education of his two
children, but was released. His case has attracted international scrutiny of
Iran’s severe crackdown on Christianity and other non-Islamic religions in the
Muslim-majority country.
Nadarkhani spent 14 days in prison following his
arrest in December.
“The ACLJ welcomes his release from this unjust and
illegal imprisonment. Iran must not be allowed to persecute individuals because
of their faith. Pastor Youcef has become the face of persecution around the
world, and his rearrest on Christmas Day shows Iran’s intent to make an example
of Pastor Youcef to intimidate people of minority faiths,” Sekulow
wrote.
“While Pastor Youcef is now once again free, American Pastor Saeed
Abedini remains imprisoned for his faith in one of Iran’s most notoriously
brutal and abusive prisons. We must continue to demand that Iran stop abusing
and persecuting Christians and those willing to defend human rights.”