5 Things That Happened at Andrew Brunson's Court Hearing in Turkey

By Samuel Smith, Deputy Managing Editor Friday, October 12, 2018

1. "Significant weakening" of the prosecution's case

<span style='color: #000000;'>Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses during an attempted coup in Istanbul, Turkey July16, 2016.</span> — Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses during an attempted coup in Istanbul, Turkey July16, 2016. | (Photo: Reuters/Huseyin Aldemir)

As human rights activists and United States lawmakers have criticized the Turkish court for lacking due process and for using implausible testimony against Brunson in his first three court hearings, a defense witness was allowed to speak in defense of Brunson on Friday.

According to Travis Weber, vice president of policy at the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group Family Research Council, this was the first time a defense witness was allowed to testify on Brunson's behalf.

The prosecution alleges that Brunson has connections to Kurdish militants and an Islamic terrorist group blamed for the 2016 coup attempt against Erdogan's government. Brunson is one of about two dozen Americans who've been arrested after the coup attempt.

In addition to allowing a defense witness to testify, Weber told reporters on Friday that new witnesses brought forth by the prosecution "contradicted previous witness statements and previous testimony."

"This led to testimony being discarded by the prosecutor and by the court," Weber, who took notes at the hearing as it occurred, explained. "In addition, a defense witness was allowed to testify for the first time. This evidence added to the significant weakening of the prosecution's case."

New York City Pastor Bill Devlin, who has attended all four of Brunson's hearings, told CP that the witnesses called by the prosecution were "bogus witnesses" who only provided second or even third-hand accounts of claims against Brunson.