Hours after his trial, Andrew Brunson, 50, was transported to Izmir’s airport and flown out of Turkey, where he had lived for more than two decades and worked at Izmir Resurrection Church.
“I love Jesus. I love Turkey,” Brunson told the court during Friday’s hearing.
He tearfully hugged his wife Norine Lyn as he awaited the court decision.
He is expected in America on Saturday, with Trump saying he will meet him in the Oval office. Fox News showed a photo of him kissing the American flag at a flight stop in Germany.
U.S. Ambassador to Germany @RichardGrenell tweeted a photo of newly-freed Pastor Andrew Brunson kissing an American flag during a stopover in Germany before returning to the United States. https://t.co/pRnzGflSaF pic.twitter.com/u8fqyRPY3b
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 13, 2018
Brunson, from North Carolina, worked at the small church in Turkey for over 20 years until he was arrested in 2016.
As part of a government crackdown, he was among thousands of journalists, civil servants and academics who were suspected of wanting to overthrow the government in a coup.
Pastor Brunson, his wife and Christian freedom charities have been campaigning for his release ever since.
On Friday, his trial in Izmir did convict him for terror charges and sentenced him to over three years in prison but the court decided to release him as he had already served two…
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