BOISE, Idaho (AP) A decision by Iranian officials to transfer an American pastor from a prison where he was held with other political detainees to a notoriously violent lockup has heightened fears among his relatives and supporters and energized U.S. lawmakers demanding his immediate release.
Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, 33, has been in Iranian custody since September 2012, and in January he began serving an eight-year sentence for undermining state security when he tried creating a network of churches in private homes in Iran.
For most of his confinement, Abedini, who is of Iranian origin but had been living in Idaho, was at Evin Prison in Tehran.
But family members and government officials say he was moved Sunday to Rajai Shahr Prison, described by human rights groups as an extremely brutal facility populated by Iran's most violent criminals with excessive rates of inmate-on-inmate violence.
"Now I'm even more afraid for his life," said his wife, Naghmeh Abedini, who lives in the U.S. with their two children. "The blow that has come with this news has been even harder than the blow that came with his initial arrest."