Court convicts American pastor, allows him to leave Turkey
A Turkish court on Friday convicted an American
pastor of terror charges but released him from house arrest and allowed him to
leave Turkey, a move that's likely to ease the tensions between Turkey and the
United States, ABC News reported.
The court near the western city of Izmir sentenced
Andrew Brunson to 3 years, 1 month and 15 days in prison for the conviction,
but since the evangelical pastor has already spent two years in detention he
won't serve more time.
The charge of espionage against him was dropped.
Brunson, whose detention sparked a diplomatic
dispute between the two NATO allies, had rejected the espionage and
terror-related charges and strongly maintained his innocence.
The United States had repeatedly called for his
release and in August slapped sanctions on Turkey.
Lawyer Ismail Cem Halavurt said Brunson, 50, was
expected to leave Turkey for the United States.
The evangelical pastor had faced up to 35 years in
jail if convicted of all the charges.
