Turkey rules to keep US pastor in jail
A Turkish court ruled on April 16 to keep an American Christian pastor in custody, deeming him to be a flight risk, after his trial opened in a case that has raised tensions with Washington.
Andrew Brunson, who ran a Protestant church in the western city of Izmir, has been detained by Turkish authorities since October 2016. If convicted, he risks up to 35 years in jail. Brunson, wearing a black suit, speaking fluent Turkish and sometimes bursting into tears, emphatically rejected all the charges against him at the first court hearing in the town of Aliağa north of İzmir.
He is accused of engaging in activities on behalf of the group led by exiled Muslim preacher Fethullah Gülen, who Ankara says is behind a failed 2016 coup, and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Both the Gülen movement, which is called Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) by the authorities, and the PKK are banned by Turkey as terror groups.
Brunson is also accused of espionage for political or military purposes.
The judge ordered Brunson to stay in jail, setting the next hearing for May 7.
The ruling was based on evidence given by witnesses in the case and the risk that Brunson might flee.
The United States expressed concern. “We have seen no credible evidence that Mr. Brunson is guilty of a crime and are convinced that he is innocent,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. “We hope that the judicial system in Turkey will resolve his case in a timely, fair and transparent manner.”
In an indication of the importance of the case for Washington, the hearing was attended by Sam Brownback, the US ambassador at large for religious freedom, and Senator Thom Tillis from Brunson’s home state of North Carolina.
“We are very disappointed. If anything, I think the information that has been presented today creates a more compelling reason why he is innocent,” Tillis told reporters after the ruling.
Brunson reacted with emotion, telling his wife Norine in English: “I am going crazy. I love you.”
He had earlier told the judge tearfully: “I want to return my home. For 16 months, I have been separated from my wife.”
“I want the whole truth to be revealed. I reject all the accusations in the indictment. I haven’t been involved in any illegal activity,” Brunson told the court. “I haven’t done anything against Turkey. On the contrary, I love Turkey. I have been praying for Turkey for 25 years.” He moved to the country in 1993 and opened his Izmir church in 2010.
The Brunson case has further hiked tensions between NATO allies Turkey and the United States, with US President Donald Trump raising the issue in talks with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. “That relationship is going to have difficulty in moving forward as long as Andrew Brunson is incarcerated,” Brownback told reporters at the courthouse.
In September, Erdogan suggested that Turkey could free Brunson if Washington handed over Gülen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania. Washington brushed off the offer but has been working intensely to secure the release of Brunson, one of several American nationals caught up in the crackdown after the failed coup against Erdogan in July 2016. In February, NASA scientist Serkan Gölge, a dual national, was jailed for 7.5 years for being a member of Gülen’s movement in a conviction denounced by Washington.
Senator Tillis said there was “no deal,” adding: “This is about what we believe is an innocent man who has been in prison for a year and a half.”
In his statement to the court, Brunson rejected the accusations of links to Gülen’s group, saying: “That would be an insult to my religion. I am a Christian. I would not join an Islamic movement.”
Numbering just several thousand, the Protestant community in overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim Turkey largely comprises converts from Islam, expatriates and refugees. The Turkish Association of Protestant Churches said in a report that 2017 was marked by continued hate crimes and physical attacks.
Brownback described the trial as a “religious freedom case.” “Turkey, in its history, has been very open, so that’s one of the things that’s really troubling about this,” he said.
(Hurriyet Daily News – April 17, 2018)
_____________________________
ISTANBUL — An American
pastor facing up to 35 years behind bars denied accusations that he aided
terrorist groups or spied against Turkey as his trial began Monday.
Andrew Brunson — a
50-year-old evangelical pastor from Black Mountain, North Carolina — has spent
the last 23 years living in Turkey, where he and his wife raised their daughter
and two sons.
According to the
American Center for Law and Justice, which is representing Brunson in the U.S.,
he was running the Resurrection Church in the western city of Izmir and
applying for permanent residency when he was detained in October 2016.
"He's a pawn in a political
game between Turkey and the U.S."
The case has strained
relations between the U.S. and NATO ally Turkey.
"I don't accept
any of the allegations or accusations," the state-run Anadolu Agency
quoted Brunson as telling the court. "I did not engage in any illegal
activity. I had no relations with anyone engaged in such activity."
He added: "I am a
Christian pastor. I did not join an Islamic movement. Their aims and mine are
different."
The agency said the
pastor delivered his defense statement in Turkish.
Speaking to NBC News
before the hearing, Brunson's daughter Jacqueline Furnari said that relatives
were happy the case was moving forward but concerned it could drag on further.
"I'm not sure
exactly why my dad was chosen," she said. "He's a pawn in a political
game between Turkey and the U.S."
Furnari said Brunson's
mood has recently improved and he had started to gain back some of the 50
pounds he lost while in detention.
"The start was
very, very difficult. It was a dark time," she said. "He's anxious …
but altogether he's doing a lot better."
Pastor Andrew Brunson.
She added: "He's
done nothing wrong, he's a peaceful loving man, he's a pastor. These charges
are absolutely absurd."
Brunson was arrested
during the mass detentions and firings soon after a failed July 2016 coup attempt,
initially on immigration violation charges.
He's now accused of
having links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Kurdish militant group
which Turkey and the United States deem a terrorist organization, as well as
links with the network of Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Ankara blames Gulen for being behind the coup attempt.
The indictment also
alleges Brunson revealed state secrets and communicated with people who
gathered details about gas and railway stations, information which would
potentially be of strategic importance during a war or occupation.
The indictment states
the charges are based on evidence obtained from Brunson's phone, as well as
from witnesses given pseudonyms to mask their identity.
The pastor's lawyer,
Ismail Cem Halavurt, told NBC News before the trial that he's not been told who
the witnesses are and that Brunson denies the charges.
The United States has
repeatedly demanded Brunson's release.
In March,
then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Brunson's wife during
a trip to Turkey to visit President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
A senior U.S. official
told NBC News: "We are following this case closely, and since his arrest,
we have visited Mr. Brunson regularly. We believe that Turkey is a state of
law, and we have faith in the Turkish people's commitment to justice."
Republican Sen. Thom
Tillis of North Carolina is expected to attend part of the trial.
dAfter visiting Brunson in prison in March,
Tillis said that "Brunson is being used as a political pawn by some
elements of the Turkish government."
In September, Erdogan
said that Turkey would send Brunson back to the United States if Washington
carried extradited Gulen.
"Give him [Gulen]
to us," Erdogan said. "Then we will try him [Brunson] and give him to
you."
Washington said it did
not receive sufficient evidence showing Gulen's connection to the coup attempt.
Halavurt said he
expects his client to be released later on Monday over what he called
"very weak" accusations, but added that recent cases have shown that
may not happen.
"This is a
special, delicate trial and if we look at other trials that have been held in
this last period, we see that some people have been condemned without enough
evidence, so it's a risk we have to consider," he added.
Related
Since the failed
coup,Turkey has jailed over 50,000 people including journalists, academics and
judges. The purges have led to widespread criticism of the country's authoritarian
president.
Soner Tufan, a
spokesperson of the Association of Protestant Churches and who attended Brunson's
church, said Brunson was not connected to any political organizations.
"He's not guilty,
he's not a spy, he's not working for CIA or other kind of organization,"
Tufan said. "He's just a [pastor]."
Several other U.S.
citizens are being detained in Turkey, including NASA scientist Serkan Golge,
who was sentenced to over seven years in prison on terrorism charges.
The State Department
said it was deeply concerned by Golge's conviction.
