American Pastor Andrew Brunson Freed, Turkish Court Rules

A Turkish court has ruled for the release of American evangelical Christian pastor Andrew Brunson, after months of spiraling relations between the country and the United States over his incarceration.

The ruling passed on Oct. 12 over a 3 year, 1 1/2 month sentence on Brunson, who had been charged with unsubstantiated terrorism offenses by Turkey. The court said he would not serve any further time because he had already been detained since October 2016.

The move could help towards healing ties between Ankara and Washington—both NATO allies. U.S. officials, including the president, have been applying increasing pressure on Turkey to free Brunson.

President Donald Trump, in a series of Twitter posts on Oct. 12, relayed the updates surroundings Brunson’s release.

“PASTOR BRUNSON JUST RELEASED. WILL BE HOME SOON!” Trump wrote.

At around 11 a.m. ET, the president said he was still trying to secure the release.

“My thoughts and prayers are with Pastor Brunson, and we hope to have him safely back home soon!” he wrote in an earlier post.

Witnesses said Brunson wept as the decision was announced. Before the judge’s ruling, the pastor told the court, “I am an innocent man. I love Jesus, I love Turkey.”

Brunson, a Christian pastor from North Carolina, has lived in Turkey for more than two decades and has been in pre-trial detention since 2016. He was accused by Turkey of orchestrating a failed military coup in 2016 and of having links to terrorist organizations.

The pastor has strongly denied all the accusations and in recent months Trump has repeatedly called for the release of Brunson, calling the detainment a “total disgrace.” Trump had called for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to free him and added U.S. tariffs against Turkish officials in August.

Near the end of July, Brunson had been released from prison and placed under house arrest due to health problems. He has previously called the charges against him “shameful and disgusting.”

According to White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, the U.S. government has seen “no evidence that Pastor Brunson has done anything wrong.” She said on Aug. 1. that Brunson is a victim of “unfair and unjust” detention by the Turkish government.

Earlier, witnesses told the court that testimonies attributed to them against the pastor were inaccurate, heightening expectations that Brunson would be released and returned to the United States.

Brunson appeared in the courtroom in the western coastal town of Aliaga wearing a black suit, white shirt, and red tie. His wife, Norine, looked on from the visitors’ seating area as he listened to testimony from defense and prosecution witnesses.

“I do not understand how this is related to me,” Brunson said after the judge questioned one of a series of witnesses, saying the judge was asking the witness about incidents Brunson was not involved in.

The Turkish lira changed little on the day. It had firmed 3 percent on Thursday on expectations that he would be released. It stood at 5.910 at 1336 GMT.

Reuters contributed to this report.