US pastor Andrew Brunson freed by Turkish court
A Turkish court has freed US pastor Andrew Brunson two years after he was detained, charged with helping to plot a coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
CNN reminds the case had soured relations between Turkey and the United States, heightened by President Donald Trump's defense of Brunson as his administration elevated religious freedom as a cause.
The court on Friday sentenced Brunson to three years and one month in prison, but chose to release him based on his time already served, as well as his manner during the proceedings, his lawyer said. Prosecutors were seeking a 10-year jail term.
Trump tweeted after the verdict: "My thoughts and prayers are with Pastor Brunson, and we hope to have him safely back home soon!"
To remind, Turkey detained Brunson in October 2016 in the aftermath of a failed military coup. Brunson, a native of North Carolina, worked as an evangelical Presbyterian pastor at the Izmir Resurrection Church.
He has lived in Turkey for more than 23 years with his wife and three children.