Pastor Andrew Brunson remains under house arrest in Turkey awaiting his next hearing in October. While many call the proceedings a “kangaroo court,” the millions praying for him around the world have had no idea what’s happening inside, until now.
“The court used to be like a basketball court or some sort of sports court that has been turned into a courtroom beside a very large prison,” Kristina Arriaga, vice chair of the U.S. Commission for International Religious Liberty, tells CBN News.
Arriaga described what she saw when she attended pastor Brunson’s last court hearing in Turkey.
“Way up front there are three judges on a raised dais and very low is pastor Andrew Brunson, witnesses for the prosecution and Brunson’s lawyer,” she recalls. “There are over 500 chairs between him and the area where observers like me and his wife are allowed to sit.”
Seated beside Brunson’s wife, Norine, Arriaga says she watched the proceedings in disbelief.
“Because pastor Brunson cannot see very well from far away, any time he looks back towards his wife, she stands up and puts her hand over her heart so he knows he’s not alone,” she remembers with a smile.
At this hearing, the prosecution called witnesses from the small church pastor Brunson shepherded for more than 20 years.
While many cheered the news of pastor Brunson being transferred from prison to house arrest, Arriaga fears that puts him at risk.
“He’s in a terribly dangerous situation because the Brunsons are portrayed in the Turkish press as people who are against the state of Turkey, and I have great fears there’s going to be an increase of incitement of violence against them and no one will be able to stop a mob that tries to go and kill him,” she warns. {eoa}
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