Andrew Brunson got his first day in a Turkish court today (16 April) to answer espionage charges. It will be three weeks until he gets his second.
The American-born Brunson, pastor of a small Protestant church, told the court he denies any wrongdoing. He is accused of supporting the attempted 2016 coup of the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by aligning himself with two organisations that the Turkish government considers to be terrorist: the FETO network of Gülen, and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party. If convicted, the 50-year-old Brunson faces 35 years in prison.
“I do not accept the charges mentioned in the indictment. I was never involved in any illegal activities,” Brunson told the court, according to Reuters, in the Turkish tongue he speaks fluently after 23 years in the country.
The day’s hearing ended with the court ordering Brunson back to the prison where he was first held after he was detained in 2016, said the American Center for Law and Justice, a Washington D.C. advocacy agency that is supporting the pastor’s defence. It is a facility where nearly two dozen inmates are held to a cell, the centre said.
“Instead of being returned to the prison where he had been held most recently, the judge ordered Pastor Andrew to be taken back to an overcrowded and extremely grim prison where he was held initially,” said the centre’s chief counsel, Jay Sekulow. “As you can imagine, the news is devastating to Pastor Andrew and his family.”
The American Center for Law and Justice said today’s hearing included…
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