Andrew Brunson’s daughter Jacqueline Furnari is shown in a frame from the recorded video of the U.S. Helsinki Commission’s November 15 hearing on Turkey, “Prisoners of the Purge: The Victims of Turkey’s Failing Rule of Law.”

Jacqueline Furnari, daughter of Andrew Brunson, shared an emotional plea for the United States to continue efforts to secure the release of her father. She spoke to the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, on November 15 in a hearing entitled “Prisoners of the Purge: The Victims of Turkey’s Failing Rule of Law.”

Andrew Brunson is an EPC teaching elder, arrested in Turkey in October 2016 and subsequently held on charges of espionage and terrorism. The hearing was held in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.

“I know my dad and his character as only a daughter can,” she said, “and I know the charges against him are absurd. My father is not an armed terrorist trying to overthrow any government. My dad is a pastor who went to Wheaton College, then on to seminary and got a Ph.D. in New Testament. He has selflessly served Turkey for 24 years now. Everything in his life is centered on his faith. For my family, who has loved, served, and prayed for Turkey and its people, seeing these absurd charges brought against my father has been an extremely painful experience. The past year of our lives has been filled with uncertainty, worry, tears, and countless unanswered questions.”

In her five-and-a-half-minute testimony, Furnari recounted her childhood in Turkey.

“As I grew up, I saw my father pour himself into his work, and how willing he was to sacrifice his needs and wants for the sake of others. He believed, as I do, in a greater purpose in life and actively lived out his life with a purpose of showing people the love and grace of God.”

She also described her February 2017 wedding in a civil ceremony.

“We didn’t want to get married without my parents present, but because my husband is in the military, we could not postpone it. We had received my dad’s blessing, but neither of my parents were there. I will never get that moment back. For those of you who are fathers of daughters, I’m sure you would want to walk your daughter down the aisle. My father didn’t get that.”

Furnari concluded with an emotional plea to the Commission.

“My family has suffered greatly because of these absurd and false charges. Please make any and all efforts to secure my dad’s release and bring him home for Christmas. He’s been imprisoned falsely for far too long.”

Click here to view the 97-minute hearing in its entirety. Furnari’s testimony begins at 50:30, and she responds to questions at 1:10:34.

The Helsinki Commission consists of nine members from the U.S. Senate, nine from the House of Representatives, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce.