Turkish authorities have released a US evangelist who was detained last week and ordered to be deported, sources said.
Declaring David Byle “a danger to public order,” authorities in Turkey took him into custody on April 6 after asking him to report to the immigration office in Istanbul regarding his application for a residency permit.
Byle, 46, was released on Thursday, 14th April, after a judge oveturned the order to detain him for 30 days.
“Praise God, I was released from the deportation center this afternoon, and just arrived home,” Byle wrote on Facebook. “Thanks to all who prayed and did advocacy for me, also to my tireless lawyer and most of all to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Byle had been told his application for a residency permit had been denied; he was immediately taken into custody and then transferred to the Fatih police station in Istanbul. Police held him for two days before transferring him on 8th April to a holding center for foreigners awaiting deportation, the sources said.
Byle’s wife, Ulrike, said he was told when he arrived at the immigration center that there was no deportation order against him. Normally the center would have no authority to imprison someone without a deportation order, but because Byle was taken there under police custody, immigration officials had the authority to hold him for 48 hours.
The next day, Byle’s attorney informed him that the immigration department had filed a deportation order against him upon direct recommendation from the Ministry of the Interior, which had claimed in a report to the department that Byle was a “danger to public order” and a flight risk. There was no indication of what the “danger to public order” accusation was based on, Byle’s wife said.
Byle was also informed that the government had filed a “no-reentry order” forbidding him from coming back into the country once deported. It is unclear when the order was filed or the length of time the order is valid. Finally, and of particular concern to Byle and his family, authorities claimed that because of the alleged potential danger he posed to Turkey, the government had the “right to supervise” him for 30 days – meaning they could hold him for a month without filing charges against him.
Ulrike Byle said the thought of her husband being a flight risk or a danger to the country was laughably absurd.
“I feel it’s funny,” she said.
Byle is known for being mild-mannered, polite and calm. He has no criminal record, and Urlike Byle said she thought he had been detained because of his evangelistic activities.
The arrest took place days before Byle was set to teach a class to a group of Turks on how to tell people about the Gospel, though there was no public indication of a link between the arrest and the scheduled training.
