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| pc: World Witness |
Turkish court decides to keep US pastor Andrew Brunson behind bars
- via hurriyetdailynews.com
The panel of judges overseeing the trial of jailed pastor Andrew Brunson, in a case that has inflamed tensions between Turkey and the United States, has decided to reject his demand to be released during the trial.
At the end of the hearing on May 7, the court in the Aegean province of İzmir (NT: Smyrna) decided to keep Brunson in jail up until the next hearing on July 18.
During the hearing Brunson denied the allegations of three secret witnesses who accused him of helping the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the network of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, referred to by the authorities as the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).
Brunson, the leader of a small Protestant Christian church named “Yeniden Diriliş” (Resurrection), rejected all accusations in the second session of his trial, insisting that he “never permitted politics in church.”
“I do not accept the charges. I would like to say openly and clearly that the PKK is a terrorist organization … I do not support any Kurdish group that carries on terrorist activities against Turkey. If we were sympathizers of the PKK those Turks would not stay in our church,” he said.
“My service that I have spent my life on, has now turned upside down. I was never ashamed to be a server of Jesus but these claims are shameful and disgusting ... What more should I say? I want to return to my home,” he added, requesting to be released pending trial.
Read the full story H E R E
09.30.2017
A Pastor Becomes a Pawn
Andrew Brunson
Still Behind Turkish Prison Bars
