Christian 'Gadfly' arrested outside the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran, while protesting on behalf of five prisoners of faith, including Saeed Abedini

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

TEHRAN, IRAN (ANS) -- A Southern California pastor who made headlines in 2008 when he was arrested in China for his human rights activism at the Beijing Olympics, has been arrested again, this time outside the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran.

Rev. Eddie Perez Romero

The Rev. Eddie Perez Romero, a minister at the Hacienda Christian Fellowship, La Puente, and an instructor of religion, ethics and philosophy at Mt. San Antonio College, largest community college in the United States, was arrested last night (Sunday, October 20, 2013) outside the prison where he was protesting on behalf of five prisoners of faith, including Saeed Abedini, the American pastor who has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment for his Christian activities.

A statement made available to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net) by his organization, exodust8one (http://exodus8one.org), said, "Last night at 10:30 pm PST, Pastor Eddie Romero, also known as Gadfly, made a declaration of protest and surrendered to the authorities at Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran.

"It was 9 a.m. Monday morning in Tehran. Three days earlier he left his tour group in Tehran and went into hiding until the event. He protested on behalf of five prisoners of faith and conscience who are currently being held at the prison."

They are:

1. Farshid Fathi, an Iranian Christian pastor
2. Saeed Abedini, a naturalized American citizen from Iran who started an orphanage in Tehran and was arrested
3. Mostafa Bordbar, a Christian activist
4. Alireza Seyyedian, a member of a Christian house church
5. Mohammed Ali Dadkhah, a prominent human rights lawyer in Tehran and co-founder of Defenders of Human 

Rights in Iran

The statement went on to say, "Pastor Eddie's event was 'Up streamed', and includes about five minutes of video and 30 minutes of audio. Pastor Eddie was heard protesting, surrendering, and being taken inside the prison and questioned briefly. Once his phone was discovered, the call was ended soon after.

"The event is posted on the website (http://exodus8one.org) and more videos should be coming that recorded what happened."

Pastor Romero talking about his first day in prison

The website also has posted Pastor Eddie's first prerecorded video that talks about his first day in prison. To view it, please go to http://exodus8one.org/featured/today-i-was-arrested-day-1/

The statement added, "Pastor Eddie's current whereabouts are unknown and no word has yet been sent to his family from the government. Pastor Eddie's friends and family await word from him and support him in his appeal to the government to release five prisoners of faith and conscience."

The name of his organization is taken from Exodus 8:1, which says, "This is what the Lord says: 'Let my people go, so that they may worship me.'"

According to Wikipedia, "A Gadfly is a person who upsets the status quo by posing upsetting or novel questions," something that this unusual pastor certainly does, even at the risk of his own life.