A GP accused of allegedly forcing an Iranian asylum-seeker to work as a slave for more than two years and threatening to have him killed has fronted a Melbourne court.

Dr Seyyed Abdolzadeh Farshchi and his wife, Naghmeh Mostafaei, have been charged under modern slavery laws of causing another person to engage in forced labour and conducting a business with forced labour between July 2015 and March 2017.

The GP is appearing at the Melbourne Magistrates Court this week for a committal hearing to determine if he and his wife will stand trial.

It has been alleged that Dr Farshchi forced the man to work 14-hour days without breaks, seven days a week at his wife’s confectionary store in the city’s south-east.