ALIAGA, Turkey (AP) – Turkey resumed the trial on Friday a U.S. pastor who is at the center of a diplomatic dispute between Ankara and Washington. Observers are waiting for if the authorities let free the religious threats of U.S. sanctions. The fourth view of the case against Andrew Brunson held at a prison complex near the city of Izmir, in the West of the country. The evangelical pastor, who arrived at the scene in a convoy guarded before dawn, is charged with terrorism and espionage-related charges. If he is found guilty, could face a sentence of up to 35 years in prison. Brunson, of 50 years that he has been living in Turkey for more than two decades, rejects the accusations and firmly maintains his innocence. It is one of the thousands of detainees in a Government offensive on a large scale after the failed coup of July 2016.
The prosecution accuses Brunson of committing crimes on behalf of terrorist groups and linked it with outlawed insurgent Kurds and a network led by a Turkish clergyman in the United States who is accused of orchestrating the failed uprising. Washington maintains that it is unfairly retained and calls for their release. On Thursday, a person involved in the efforts to free Brunson told The Associated Press in Washington that the pastor could be free in view. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because authorities had not yet arrived at a definitive agreement on the release and this could not happen. The pastor, of Black Mountain, North Carolina, was imprisoned for nearly two years since his arrest in October 2016 and his formal arrest in December of that year. On July 25 he was under house arrest for health reasons.
Washington imposed sanctions on two Turkish officials and doubled tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum Turkish. These decisions, along with doubts about the economic management of the Government, fueled the crisis of the Turkish lira in August.
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