The Belgian Court gives the green light for a prisoner exchange with Iran for the time being

EPAA protest in Brussels against the conviction of Olivier Vandecasteele in Iran

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 23:19

The Constitutional Court in Belgium has approved the treaty that allows the exchange of a Belgian imprisoned in Iran for an Iranian imprisoned in Belgium. The treaty was challenged by members of the Iranian opposition, but the Court rejected the opposition’s appeal.

VRT Nieuws calls the ruling “relatively good news” for Belgian Olivier Vandecasteele, who is imprisoned in Iran. The employee of the humanitarian non-profit organization Relief International has been detained in Iran for more than a year. In January, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes, including for espionage.

According to Belgium, that conviction was based on nothing. The sentence would be in retaliation for the conviction of Iranian diplomat and terrorist Assadollah Assadi in Belgium two years ago. This diplomat stationed in Austria must serve a prison sentence of 20 years in Belgium.

In 2018, Assadi, along with three others, wanted to carry out an attack on a congress in Paris of the Iranian opposition. Assadi had brought the bomb to Europe in a diplomatic briefcase, recruited Iranians to carry out the attack and handed over the bomb to them. The plot was discovered in time, and the attack thus prevented.

Inform the opposition

The Belgian Constitutional Court had to rule on the exchange treaty with Iran. The Iranian opposition had argued that Assadi would be used again in attacks against opponents of the Iranian regime after returning to Iran.

The Court meets that fear and states that the Belgian State has a duty to protect people who may be in danger if Assadi is released. If the exchange goes through, those people must be notified. They can then submit the decision to a court.

The Iranian opposition has already said it will go to court.

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