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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Turkish court says US pastor to stay in jail for terror links

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ISTANBUL: US pastor Andrew Brunson will remain in a Turkish prison on charges of terrorism and espionage, a court ruled on Wednesday in denying his release, according to state broadcaster TRT. The case of the pastor from the US state of North Carolina, who has lived in Turkey for more than 20 years, has frayed ties between Ankara and Washington. Brunson, 50, was arrested in 2016 in the aftermath of a failed coup by a faction of the Turkish military. He is accused of ties to the movement of Fethullah Gulen, a cleric who in the US and whom Ankara blames for the coup attempt on July 15, 2016.


Brunson is also accused of links to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.


Ahead of the third hearing in the case on Wednesday, defence lawyer Ismail Cem Halavurt said that he was seeking Brunson’s release. He said the pastor’s detention of more than two years was illegal and that there was no evidence against him.


Brunson, who served at a church in the western coastal city of Izmir, has denied all the charges. Prosecutors in Izmir’s Second High Penal Court are seeking a sentence of up to 35 years.


The next hearing is scheduled for October 12, Hurriyet Daily News reported. After the trial started in April, US President Donald Trump said he believed Brunson “was being persecuted in Turkey for no reason.”


Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested last year that Brunson’s case could be connected to an extradition request for Gulen, who lives in exile in Pennsylvania.


But the US says Ankara has not presented sufficient evidence against him. A witness, identified only by the initials LA, testified on Wednesday, claiming to have known the pastor for 8-10 years. TRT quoted LA as telling the court that Brunson had “a very close relationship with members of the terrorist organisation,” referring to the PKK. The witness reported being asked by Brunson to change the testimony and “repent,” TRT said.


In one of his sermons, Brunson allegedly said that “there is war between Turks and Kurds,” according to the witness, who said “secret meetings” were held in the church in Izmir. “There were brochures belonging to the PKK in boxes. There was a Kurdistan map, which the terrorist groups want to establish, and specific areas on the map were marked,” the witness further claimed.


— dpa


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