Olivier Vandecasteele was sentenced to 28 years in prison in Iran.
By Belga
Lhe Belgian diplomatic services in Iran met last Wednesday with Olivier Vandecasteele, the Belgian aid worker who has been detained for several months, his family said on Monday. He appeared more “emaciated and with dark circles around his eyes” after ten months of detention in complete solitary confinement.
Olivier Vandecasteele was arrested last February and is officially accused of espionage by the regime after having worked for more than six years in Iran for international NGOs. He was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
The Belgian diplomatic services were able to meet him for 30 minutes last Wednesday, in the presence of four guards. Olivier Vandecasteele explained that he was forced to participate in a “probable staging” of his judgment.
Olivier Vandecasteele case: “hostage diplomacy” in full swing in Iran
His family are worried that the aid worker is suffering from health problems. “New ear problems appeared and the single session of dental treatment did not succeed in treating all the problems”, she explains. “The announcement made by the Belgian authorities that the transfer treaty had been temporarily suspended caused deep despair in Olivier, aggravated by the birth of a feeling of total abandonment. »
Last week, the Belgian Foreign Minister, Hadja Lahbib, indicated that, for Belgium, Olivier Vandecasteele is innocent and must be released.
Nathalie, sister of Olivier Vandecasteele: “Our nightmare is only getting worse”
The Belgian’s fate seems to be linked to that of Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian agent convicted in Belgium for a planned attack against the Iranian opposition planned in France. Belgium had negotiated a treaty with Iran to allow the exchange of prisoners between the two countries, but the Constitutional Court suspended this treaty last month.
