President Trump on Wednesday said it was shameful that a Turkish court rejected an appeal to release an American evangelical pastor being tried for terrorism-related charges, imploring Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to intercede and secure Andrew Brunson’s freedom.
“A total disgrace that Turkey will not release a respected U.S. Pastor, Andrew Brunson, from prison. He has been held hostage far too long,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “[Erdogan] should do something to free this wonderful Christian husband & father. He has done nothing wrong, and his family needs him!”
A total disgrace that Turkey will not release a respected U.S. Pastor, Andrew Brunson, from prison. He has been held hostage far too long. @RT_Erdogan should do something to free this wonderful Christian husband & father. He has done nothing wrong, and his family needs him!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2018
Trump previously defended Brunson, a longtime Turkish resident, in a tweet in April, describing him as a “fine gentleman and Christian leader” who is “being persecuted in Turkey for no reason.”
“They call him a Spy, but I am more a Spy than he is,” he wrote. “Hopefully he will be allowed to come home to his beautiful family where he belongs!”
Brunson, a 50-year-old missionary from North Carolina, has denied espionage and collusion with terrorist organizations charges since being detained in 2016 following accusations he helped insurgents behind a coup in the country that year. He faces up to 35 years in prison.
Erdogan teased a prisoner swap in the fall of 2017, floating the possibility of trading Brunson for Fetullah Gulen, a Muslim critic living in Pennsylvania whom Erdogan blames for the failed uprising. Gulen also denies involvement.
Brunson is due to appear in court again on Oct. 12, according to the Associated Press.
