A United States Pastor, Andrew Brunson, Faces 35 Years In A Turkish Prison For Being Christian

A pastor from the United States, named Andrew Brunson, was in Turkey when he was charged with life in prison for being a Christian. He has already been in prison for a year, when the court set a date and decided to proceed with the prosecution. His first court date will be April 16, 2018. There is a 62-page indictment, which actually has no evidence that he committed a crime, other than an act of terrorism they call, "Christianization." If he is convicted, he will face 35 years in prison.

Andrew Brunson was pastor of the Izmir Resurrection Church in Turkey for 23 years, along with his wife. Working on his defense is a conservation group known as The American Center of Law and Justice. CeCe Heil, who works for the center, says: "The 62-page indictment, wholly lacking merit, provides no evidence regarding criminal action by Pastor Andrew, which comes as no surprise" (Barrett, 2018).

President of the United States, President Donald Trump and his administration, are working hard to secure Brunson's release. 20 European countries are saying that what Turkey is doing is a form of "blackmail", since Turkey is trying to use Brunson to have the United States release Gulen, but the US has firmly stated that will not happen. Leaders of a bipartisan federal government commission, called the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, has urged Congress and Trump's administration, to "secure Pastor Brunson's release. No stone should be left unturned in our efforts on behalf of this unjustly imprisoned American," says USCIRF Vice Chairs, Sandra Jolley and Kristina Arriaga (Barrett, 2018).

ACLJ, the American Center for Law and Justice, is an organization to help protect and fight for people's legal rights. They are raising awareness of his situation and have started a petition for people to sign to save him from prison.

Andrew Brunson is innocent and doesn't deserve this. Click the link below to petition and save his life!

https://aclj.org/?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=d-03222018_top-PC_seg-RE20exFBR_typ-PT_sub-A