The family of a Belgian aid worker detained "arbitrarily" in an Iranian prison for nearly five months implored Belgium to "
do whatever it takes
" to free him, in a video message sent Monday, July 11 to the media.
The arrest on February 24 in Tehran of Olivier Vandecasteele, 41, was made public last week by the Belgian Minister of Justice, against the backdrop of a parliamentary debate on a controversial prisoner transfer treaty concluded with Iran.
“He has been languishing for almost five months in complete isolation”
In this video message, Nathalie Vandecasteele, one of Olivier Vandecasteele's sisters, insists on the deterioration of his health, physical and psychological, while his mother, Annie, suppresses sobs by also imploring the help of the Belgian authorities.
“
While he is innocent, he has been languishing for almost five months in complete isolation.
He spent two months without even a mattress, in a cell lit 24 hours a day, and suffered daily psychological pressure with interrogations
, ”denounces Nathalie Vandecasteele, in this video showing the parents and the two sisters of the hostage.
“
Following the second consular visit, we learned that Olivier has lost a lot of weight and that he is suffering from a foot infection,
” she continues.
"
Today Olivier needs your support (...) It is inconceivable for our family to think that our democratic Belgium does not do everything necessary to get innocent prisoners out of countries such as Iran
”, adds she.
The case of Olivier Vandecasteele is at the heart of a political imbroglio in Belgium, where the government wants to have Parliament ratify this month a treaty on the “
transfer of sentenced persons
” concluded with Iran.
This text is presented as
a bilateral “instrument of collaboration
” on the issue of arbitrary detentions in this country.
The Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne admitted that this French-speaking Belgian hostage did not fall within the scope of the treaty – which concerns people who have been definitively condemned – but that it will nevertheless allow dialogue with Tehran.
Read alsoBelgium faces suspicion over a possible “exchange” of prisoners with Iran
Critics of the text, in the Belgian opposition and especially in the ranks of Iranian opponents and their supporters, see it as an open door to the surrender to Tehran, and a possible pardon, of an Iranian intelligence agent sentenced in 2021 in Belgium to 20 years in prison for terrorism.
The latter, Assadollah Assadi, who was acting under diplomatic cover at the time (posted at the Vienna Embassy), was found guilty by the court in Antwerp (north) of having orchestrated a planned attack on explosive which was to target the large annual gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) on June 30, 2018 in France.
The procedure was strongly denounced by Tehran, but the person concerned did not appeal the judgment.
