The attorney for US pastor Andrew Brunson, currently detained in Turkey, has appealed to the Turkish Constitutional Court demanding that his client has to be released from house arrest, the Haberturk media outlet reported on Wednesday.
According to the Haberturk, the lawyer, Ismail Cem Halavurt, claimed that the arrest had exceeded a reasonable time and that there was no legal justification to limit his client’s freedom.
Brunson’s arrest significantly dampened US-Turkish relations. The pastor was detained in 2016 over his alleged ties to the movement of Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, which Turkey holds responsible for orchestrating the failed military coup of 2016. The pastor was released from prison in late July, only to be moved to house arrest.
The United States later imposed sanctions on Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, accusing them of human rights violations.