In early October, American pastor Andrew Brunson thanked everyone for advocating and praying for him as he began his second year as a prisoner in Turkey.
Charges against him include spying, and recently Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan confirmed publicly that Brunson is being held as a political hostage.
Brunson is one of an estimated 50,000 ‘suspected’ public servants, academics, journalists and rights activists jailed in a 15-month crackdown by Turkey in its attempt to identify and punish the so-called Fethullah Terror Organisation (FETO) it accuses of infiltrating the country’s armed forces and government. President Erdoğan hopes the US will extradite exiled Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, who is accused of orchestrating the attempted coup, in exchange for Brunson.
Brunson, who lived and worked in church-related ministries in Turkey for 23 years, was visited in prison by a delegation from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. They said he was confined to a cell for 24 hours a day and has lost over three stone since being imprisoned. His wife was arrested alongside him, but was released after 13 days.
