U.S. pastor charged in Turkey put under house arrest

ISTANBUL — An American pastor who has been in custody for nearly two years on terror and espionage charges will be put under house arrest as his trial continues, Turkey’s official news agency said Wednesday.

Anadolu news agency said that Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson, a 50-year-old evangelical pastor from Black Mountain, North Carolina was released from a jail in western Turkey and remanded at his house due to Brunson’s “health problems.” The report did not give details about the health problems, but he was released from jail Wednesday.

The case has strained ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States. President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded Brunson’s release and recently spoke to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the case.

A court in western Izmir province said Brunson would be electronically monitored and barred from leaving his house. He cannot leave the country. Brunson has been in custody since he was arrested in December 2016.

If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison for “committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member,” in reference to outlawed Kurdish militants and the network of a U.S.-based Muslim cleric blamed for a failed coup attempt, as well as an additional 20 years for espionage.

Brunson strongly denies the charges.

His case has been adjourned until Oct. 12.