US pastor 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. He was also charged with supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which was designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and the U.S.
CRIMINAL HIGH COURT REJECTED THE APPEAL
Recently, the court had allowed Brunson to be moved from jail and placed him under house arrest in view of his “health problems”. A criminal high court in the Aegean province of Izmir on Wednesday rejected American Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson’s appeal to end his house arrest and lift a travel ban on him.
The continued detention of Brunson has become a lightning rod in strained relations between Turkey and the US, leading Washington to slap economic and political sanctions on its NATO ally. The pastor was released for house arrest on July 25. The court ordered him to wear an electronic bracelet at all times and barred him from traveling outside of the country.