Belgian humanitarian Olivier Vandecasteele, held in solitary confinement in Iran since February, has been sentenced to 28 years in prison, a spokesman for his family announced on Wednesday, stressing that they did not know of the charges against him. “The family is devastated,” said Olivier Van Steirtegem, spokesperson for the family, adding that they had been informed by the Belgian government.
“There is no plan B,” he continued. ” You imagine ? If there is no solution, he will stay in prison until 2050, he will be almost 70 years old,” he added. According to his family, Olivier Vandecasteele was arrested on February 24 in Tehran without reason.
Convict transfer treaty suspended
On Thursday, the Belgian Constitutional Court “suspended” a Belgian-Iranian treaty for the transfer of convicts that the Belgian government had had Parliament adopt in July to allow the return of Olivier Vandecasteele. His relatives said they were “extremely disappointed”.
The transfer treaty, signed in March 2022 between Brussels and Tehran shortly after the arrest of Olivier Vandecasteele, has been the subject of multiple appeals in Belgium by Iranian opponents in exile. In the eyes of the latter, the text paves the way for the surrender to Tehran and a possible pardon of the Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi sentenced in Belgium in 2021 to 20 years in prison for a planned “terrorist” attack against the Iranian opposition.
An “unspeakable psychological torture”
During a press conference in Brussels last week, the imprisoned humanitarian’s sister, Nathalie Vandecasteele, denounced the “unspeakable psychological torture” suffered by her brother, “innocent hostage of a legal and political battle” putting the taken Iran and Belgium.
“For 290 days, he has been cut off from all human contact […] The days pass and our family breaks down. We are sad, devastated, arms and legs cut off by this injustice, ”she said under the gaze of her mother, her eyes also red with emotion.