loading…
DUBAI – Belgium and Iran do prisoner exchange on Friday (26/5/2023) in Oman. Officials said Tehran released a Belgian aid worker in exchange for an Iranian diplomat.
As reported by the AP, the Iranian diplomat was convicted of attempting to bomb a gathering of exiles in France. However, the initial announcement by Oman’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not identify the prisoners being exchanged.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said in a statement that aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele had been freed. Iranian state television later confirmed that the diplomat, Assadollah Assadi, was also freed.
Oman’s foreign ministry said those released were transferred from Tehran and Brussels to Muscat today, Friday, in preparation for their return to their countries.
It was also reported that the Sultanate of Oman appreciated the high positive spirit that emerged in the talks in Muscat between the Iranian and Belgian sides, and their desire to solve this humanitarian problem.
De Croo said Vandecasteele was transferred to Oman on Thursday (25/5/2023) evening. He was received by a team of Belgian diplomats and military officials, then examined by doctors.
“Olivier spent 455 days in prison in Tehran. Under unbearable conditions. Innocent,” wrote De Croo. “The return of Olivier Vandecasteele to Belgium is a relief. A relief to his family, friends and colleagues.”
In January, Iran sentenced Vandecasteele to a long prison sentence and 74 lashes after convicting him of espionage in a closed trial. He was also fined $1 million.
Vandecasteele was arrested in Iran in February 2022 while packing her belongings, having worked with the Norwegian Refugee Council and International Assistance in the Islamic Republic from 2015 to 2021, according to Amnesty International.
His family and the Belgian government have strongly denied Iran’s claims, which were made without providing evidence, that he was a spy. To allow exchanges with Iranian diplomats, Belgium has adopted in March a controversial prisoner exchange agreement that was upheld by the country’s constitutional court.
In 2021, Belgium convicted Assadi of masterminding the foiled bomb attack on exiled Iranian opposition groups in France and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors tied Assadi to a partner, were stopped by Belgian police and found with 550 grams (1.21 pounds) of TATP explosives and a detonator in 2018.
(esn)
