Andrew Brunson, the American pastor who was imprisoned and then placed under house arrest in Turkey over his alleged ties to an outlawed group, was ordered freed on Friday and sentenced to time served, a Turkish judge ruled. Brunson was initially arrested in October 2016.
The BBC notes,
He denied charges of espionage, which could have led to a 35-year jail term.
He was sentenced to three years in prison but will not serve time as he had already spent two years in jail.
Mr Brunson is a long-term resident in Turkey. He lived with his wife and three children while working as the pastor of the small Izmir Resurrection Church, which had a congregation of about two dozen.
The authorities accuse him of having links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Gulenist movement, which Turkey blames for a 2016 failed coup.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
