The Trump administration has sanctioned two high-level officials in Turkey for what it says is their role in the case of U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson, who faces terrorism-related charges.
“At the president’s direction, the Department of Treasury is sanctioning Turkey’s minister of justice and minister of the interior, both of whom played leading roles in the arrest and detention of Pastor Brunson,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced at her press briefing Wednesday (Aug. 1).
Under the sanctions, any assets the Turkish officials have in the U.S. will be frozen. American individuals and businesses are barred from having financial transactions with them.
The Treasury Department said in a statement that Turkey’s Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gul and Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu lead governmental organizations that are “responsible for implementing Turkey’s serious human rights abuses.”
The moves follow Tuesday reports that a Turkish court denied Brunson’s latest appeal on charges of espionage and “committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member,” which the Trump administration says are false. The 50-year-old evangelical pastor from North Carolina was moved from prison to house arrest last week (July 25) but President Trump and other administration officials said they were not satisfied with that…
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