Iran sentences Belgian aid worker accused of spying for the US to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes

10 Jan. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Iranian authorities confirmed on Tuesday that Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele has been sentenced to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes after being found guilty of spying for the United States government.

Against him also weighed charges of money laundering and currency smuggling. Vandecasteele was arrested on February 24, 2021 and was later accused by Tehran of espionage after more than six years working in Iran for foreign NGOs, according to information from the newspaper ‘Le Soir’.

Last week, Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib reaffirmed that “Bélica considers Vandecasteele innocent” and called for his release as soon as possible.

His future remains linked to that of Assadolá Assadi, a senior Iranian government official who was sentenced in Belgium for planning an attack against Iranian opponents in France.

The Belgian government had negotiated a treaty for the exchange of prisoners, but the Constitutional Court struck it down last month and halted the exchange of Assadi and Vandecasteele.

The judicial ruling indicates that the exchange violated the rights of the victims of Assadi, who had been sentenced to twenty years in prison for preparing, together with Iran, an attack against a group of opponents who were scheduled to meet in June 2018 in a nearby French city. to Paris.