By Omer Sut
IZMIR, Turkey (AA) – An American pastor facing terrorism-related charges in Turkey is seeking an end to his house arrest and travel ban, Turkish judicial sources said on Monday.
Cem Halavurt, an attorney for Andrew Craig Brunson, submitted a petition appealing last week’s court ruling putting Brunson under house arrest with a ban on traveling abroad, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
Halavurt claimed, in the petition to the 2nd High Criminal Court in the Aegean Izmir province, that there is “no element of a crime” in the digital data seized from the pastor, also dismissing witnesses’ testimony against the pastor as “abstract.”
Last week U.S. President Donald Trump threatened “large” sanctions on Turkey unless it frees Brunson.
Ankara rejected Trump’s threats as attempts to interfere with Turkey’s judiciary, saying that everyone has to follow the rules.
Last week, citing his “health problems,” the Izmir court moved Brunson from jail to house arrest, with a travel ban. He had been jailed since December 2016.
Brunson is charged with spying for the PKK — a designated terrorist group in the U.S. and Turkey — and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the defeated July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey which martyred 251 people and injured thousands.
