“I can say my life after I got released is harder than when I was in prison because of the media and all the false accusations. After my freedom, people who prayed for me for years every night couldn’t rejoice for my freedom because of the things in the media,” Abedini told local news station KIVI-TV ABC 6 in an interview.
He was asked to address some of the things his wife, Naghmeh, has said about him, but he responded that “what people need to know is that the things in the media about me are complete false accusations.”
Naghmeh, who has two children with the American pastor living in Boise, Idaho, filed a domestic relations case against him shortly after he returned to the U.S. after being released from prison in January. Naghmeh claimed that there has been abuse in their marriage, and said their marriage can only be saved by God.
“I do deeply regret that I hid from the public the abuse that I have lived with for most of our marriage and I ask your forgiveness. I sincerely had hoped that this horrible situation Saeed has had to go through would bring about the spiritual change needed in both of us to bring healing to our marriage,” Naghmeh explained in a Facebook post last year.
“Tragically, the opposite has occurred. Three months ago Saeed told me things he demanded I must do to promote him in the eyes of the public that I simply could not do any longer. He threatened that if I did not the results would be the end of our marriage and the resulting pain this would bring to our children,” she added.
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