Turkey's state-run media says a court has rejected an American pastor's appeal for his release from house arrest and refused to lift his travel ban.
The court in the Aegean region of Izmir rejected an appeal by the lawyer for Andrew Brunson, who ran a Protestant church, to have him released from house arrest and have his travel ban removed, state-run Anadolu news agency said.
The court ruled that there was no change in the "strong criminal suspicion" against him.
The evangelical pastor was arrested in December 2016 and jailed until he was released to home detention last week. He faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted of "committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member" and espionage.
Last week, President Donald Trump announced possible sanctions against Turkey for its treatment of Brunson.
Brunson's lawyer Ismail Cem Halavurt could not immediately be contacted for comment.
But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan insisted that sanction threats would not force Ankara to take a "step back", in comments reported on Sunday.
Relations between Turkey and the United States have been tense over multiple issues including American support for YPG/PKK who Turkey view as terrorists as well as the failure to extradite US-based FETO ringleader Fetullah Gülen who is behind the bloody July 15 coup attempt.
The next hearing in Brunson's trial is on October 12.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is expected to meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during this week's meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
