AMSTERDAM, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele has been sentenced to 28 years in prison in Iran, a source familiar with the case said on Wednesday, confirming Belgian press reports.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo informed Olivier Vandecasteele’s family of this sentence on Tuesday, she said.
The 41-year-old aid worker has been detained for nine months in Iran without it being clear what charges have been brought against him.
The Belgian authorities consider that Iran is using him as a hostage. Tehran did not comment.
Brussels was considering exchanging Olivier Vandecasteele for the Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi, sentenced in 2021 to 20 years in prison for his role in the preparations for a failed attack against a meeting of Iranian opponents in Villepinte, near Paris, but the Court last week suspended the “Treaty for the Transfer of Convicted Persons” recently concluded with Tehran. (Written by Bart Meijer in Amsterdam, with contributions from Parisa Hafezi in Dubai, French version Tangi Salaün, edited by Blandine Hénault)
click here for restrictions
©2022 Reuters