Ankara seeks life sentence for US pastor ‘linked’ to failed 2016 coup

ANKARA (Reuters) – A Turkish prosecutor on Tuesday sought a life sentence for a US pastor over alleged links to a failed coup attempt in 2016, the Dogan news agency reported.

Washington believes Andrew Brunson, who has been in jail since December 2016, is one of several Americans unjustly detained in Turkey. During a visit to Ankara last month, then-US secretary of state Rex Tillerson called for his release.

The Protestant pastor from North Carolina has been running a church in Turkey for 23 years, according to an online petition seeking his release.

The prosecutor charged him with being an “executive” of the group that Ankara holds responsible for the failed coup, the news agency said. Turkey blames the network of Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Muslim cleric who denies all involvement.

In September, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested Turkey could free Brunson if the US handed over Gulen. It was not immediately clear what charges were brought against the pastor in the indictment.

Brunson was accused of obtaining secret documents with the aim of political or military espionage, and attempting to overthrow the government, Dogan and other Turkish media reported when he was initially questioned over a year ago.

The accusations were based on the testimony of a secret witness, who said Brunson was in close contact with Gulen’s network and receiving funds from it for missionary activities.

Brunson denied the allegations, saying he was a defender of Jesus Christ and would never support any Islamic movement, Dogan reported at the time.

Tillerson said during his official visit that Washington had “serious concerns” about cases against US citizens arrested under the state of emergency in place in Turkey since the coup attempt, and said Brunson and others should be freed.

Following Tillerson’s visit, the two countries formed joint working groups to mend their relations.

Brunson’s daughter on Friday told the United Nations Human Rights Council that the terrorism allegations against her father were “absurd,” according to the European Center for Law and Justice, a group supporting his case.

“Turkey should not get away with holding my father one more day,” Jacqueline Brunson said, urging the UN to help get him released.

“I know the allegations against my father are absurd. He is... a peaceful pastor,” she said.