The release of Olivier Vandecastel: the Belgian humanitarian was exchanged for Iran, convicted of terrorism

Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecastele, 42, who was arrested in Iran on February 24, 2022 and sentenced to 40 years in prison for “espionage”, has been released. He was due to arrive in Brussels on the evening of Friday, May 26. He was exchanged this morning in the Sultanate of Oman for 51-year-old Asadolah Asad, an Iranian “diplomat” stationed in Vienna, who was the organizer of an attack project against the Iranian opposition in Villepinte (Saint-Saint-Denis). , in June 2018.

Iranian authorities have stepped up pressure to return their citizen, who was actually a senior member of the security services and an explosives expert. Arrested in Germany, extradited to Belgium, where three of his accomplices were, he was sentenced to twenty years in prison in February 2021 by a court in Antwerp.

On Thursday evening, he was sent via Belgium to Muscat, the capital of Oman, while Olivier Vandecastle left Iran. The medic was able to board a Belgian military plane in the afternoon after being examined and tested by doctors. In a photo released by Belgian Prime Minister Alexandre de Croix, he appears very thin but in relatively good health. His family warned several times about the extremely harsh conditions of his detention, which put his life in danger. Then began a great mobilization campaign throughout Belgium.

Transfer Agreement Application

However, the very strict regime imposed on the Belgian was eased only a few weeks ago, when the hypothesis of an exchange with Asadolah Asadi was confirmed. After hesitation, Belgium’s constitutional court in early March rejected a challenge filed by Iranian opponents to annul a 2022 Belgian law that authorized the transfer of prisoners to Iran. Initially, the court suspended the text, arguing that Assad would probably avoid the execution of the sentence by being released upon his arrival in the country. The transfer agreement finally entered into force on April 18.

In Friday’s message, Mr. de Crowe did not mention the terms of the exchange with Tehran. He insisted that his country had worked “For four hundred and fifty-five days” – Namely, from the beginning of the detention of the humanitarian worker – to obtain the release of Olivier Vandekasteel. “One thing has always been the main thing for me: never leave a single innocent countryman. It is my responsibility not to leave anyone behind.”“, the head of the government said.