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

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

2. Turkish prosecutor presses to send Brunson back to jail

<strong>A man waves Turkey's national flag during the Democracy and Martyrs Rally, organized by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, November 12, 2016.</strong> — **A man waves Turkey's national flag during the Democracy and Martyrs Rally, organized by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, November 12, 2016.** | **(Photo: Reuters/Umit Bektas)**

After the hearing broken for lunch around 12:30 p.m., the proceedings resumed around 1:30 p.m. Around 2 p.m., the prosecutor re-read Brunson's lengthy indictment.

According to Devlin, it took the prosecutor about 45 minutes to an hour to re-read the document.

Weber explained that after the indictment was read, Brunson proclaimed yet again that he is innocent and referred to his defense lawyer, Cem Halavurt. Halavurt cited previous court filings and noted that Brunson "has just served as a pastor [of Izmir Resurrection Church] and argued that evidence has not shown Brunson to be guilty of associating with terrorists or terror groups.

Despite the fact that the prosecutor had to throw out some testimony, Devlin and Weber both explained that the prosecutor still recommended to the three-judge panel that Brunson be remanded back to prison. The prosecutor also listed the sentences Devlin should receive for each crime.

"The big one was supporting a terrorist organization, which was the PKK and the YPG," Devlin said. "So then the head judge recessed the court for 15 minutes."