The former aid worker is still being held in solitary confinement, in a cramped cell and without medical care, according to his two sisters.
By Belga
Lhe family of Olivier Vandecasteele, a Belgian humanitarian worker detained in Iran since February 2022, was able to speak with him last Friday, said his two sisters Nathalie and Virginie Vandecasteele. On Sunday, more than a thousand people gathered in Brussels to demand the release of the Belgian, sentenced to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes for espionage in the Islamic Republic.
“We heard it via WhatsApp last Friday, for the fourth time since his arrest 331 days ago,” said Olivier Vandecasteele’s sisters, in whose eyes he seemed “weakened”. “He again tried to stay strong and suppress his tears. He told us that he had appeared in court for the confirmation of his official sentence: 40 years in prison and 74 lashes. If for many political prisoners, the conviction marks the end of their detention in solitary confinement, this is not the case for Olivier”, they lamented.
Demonstration of support: “We are not alone and Olivier Vandecasteele is not alone”
The former aid worker is still being held in solitary confinement, in a cramped cell and without medical care, according to his two sisters. “He stopped his hunger strike, but he lost 25 kilos and his mental state seriously deteriorated. Since the last consular visit 16 days ago, he has not spoken to anyone and has not seen a single face. His meals go through a trap door, and he has to walk through the halls blindfolded for his daily 15-minute walk,” they explained.
Olivier Vandecasteel’s family urges the government to take responsibility. “He has a moral and political obligation to immediately release an innocent fellow citizen. Olivier is the victim of a tangle of geopolitical interests, hostage to political tensions between two countries that date back long before his arrest,” his sisters concluded.
Assadollah Assadi and Olivier Vandecasteele, two intertwined destinies
A petition launched by Amnesty International demanding the release of the Belgian humanitarian has meanwhile collected more than 100,000 votes.
