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Life Sentence for Muslim Attacker Upheld in Pakistani Appeals Court

Jul. 26Justice Affirmed: Life Sentence...

Last year, the ACLJ’s Pakistani affiliate, the Organization for Legal Aid (OLA), represented a Christian family in desperate need of legal assistance. The family members’ lives were changed forever due to an incident that took place on March 11, 2021. In pursuit of employment, the family had moved to Islamabad. The mother, Najma Parveen, dedicated...More

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Jewish Iranian Sentenced to Death

Jewish Iranian Sentenced to Death

Iran is preparing to execute an innocent young man because he’s Jewish, and he’s running out of time. The ACLJ is advocating for his life at the United Nations, having just filed an urgent complaint with the U.N.’s Special Procedures seeking swift international intervention to stop the execution and overturn this...More

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CeCe Heil  //

Mar 04, 2019

Today, the United Nations (U.N.) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) published their opinion regarding the wrongful detention of our client, Pastor Andrew Brunson. Pastor Brunson was an American...

ACLJ.org  //

Dec 21, 2018

This is the latest installment in a year-end series looking back at some of the numerous victories by the ACLJ in 2018. The ACLJ is committed to protecting religious liberty and defending the persecuted...

Jay Sekulow  //

Oct 12, 2018

American Pastor Andrew Brunson has just been released from wrongful detainment in Turkey. We can confirm that after more than two years of detainment based on his Christian faith, Pastor Andrew is preparing to...

Wrongful Imprisonment

An innocent American pastor, Andrew Brunson, has been falsely accused of "membership in an armed terrorist organization and political/military espionage" Even worse - he's now a hostage of the Turkish government.

Pastor Andrew Brunson
is a Christian pastor serving in Turkey for the past 23 years.

N. Carolina

Turkey

While he is a U.S. citizen from Black Mountain, North Carolina, he raised his family in Turkey and dedicated his life to the people in that country.

When he was summoned to the local police station one day, he was unexpectedly detained because he was falsely accused of being a "threat to national security."

Pastor Andrew's first appeal was denied.

HE HAD BEEN HELD WITHOUT CHARGES WITHOUT ACCESS TO AN ATTORNEY.

Shortly thereafter, Pastor Andrew was allowed a visit with family. During that visit, Pastor Andrew indicated that - while he’d been stripped of his personal Bible - he was allowed to have a New Testament.

In February 2017, we submitted a written statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council requesting their assistance in securing Pastor Andrew's release.

After we petitioned Congress for help, Members of Congress sent a bipartisan letter to the President of Turkey requesting Pastor Andrew's immediate release.

37
U.S. Senators

&

41
Members of the house

Signed the letter

On February 16, 2017 we sent a letter to the Secretary of State, advocating for Pastor Andrew's freedom.

Pastor Andrew delivered a statement to U.S. embassy officials - who were able to meet with him in the prison - and plead:

Please do not leave me here in prison.

Pastor Andrew's wife meets with the Secretary of State while he's in Turkey, again advocating for her husband's release. She later receives a letter from Vice President Pence, in which he assures her he's taken a
"deep, personal" interest in Pastor Andrew's freedom because of our public outcry.

3

Times

Both the President and Vice President raised Pastor Brunson's case three times with Turkey's President.

The Secretary of State later declared that the "U.S. continues to advocate for the pastor's release."

October 2017 marked one year of false imprisonment for American Pastor Andrew Brunson. Dangerously, he has become a hostage at the hands of the Turkish government, with Turkey's President demanding a political enemy's extradition in exchange for the pastor's release.

On March 19th, the prosecutor falsely charged Pastor Brunson with trumped up charges including membership in an armed terrorist organization and political and military espionage in a 62-page indictment wholly lacking any merit.

He has now been moved from his prison cell to his house in Turkey as his trial continues, but he must be allowed to come home to America. We're representing Pastor Andrew's family, aggressively working globally for his ultimate freedom.

600,524

There are tens of thousands of signatures from 194 nations and territories across the globe for his freedom. We must stand with one voice and demand this innocent American citizen - a Christian pastor - be immediately released and returned home to America.