Belgien has exchanged NGO worker Olivier Vandecasteele, who is being held in Iran, for an Iranian terrorist convicted in Antwerp. The 42-year-old Vandecasteele, who was in a Tehran prison for a total of 455 days, was taken to Oman on Friday night and exchanged for the terrorist Assadollah Assadi. The sultanate, which has good relations with the Belgian royal family and Iran, mediated in the background. Vandecasteele was scheduled to arrive in Brussels on Friday evening in the same military plane that Assadi had previously been flown out with.
In doing so, the Belgian government was not just responding to obvious blackmail by the mullahs’ regime. It also appears to have disregarded a ruling by the Belgian Constitutional Court. Although the latter had declared an extradition agreement with Iran to be lawful, it found that Iranian opposition figures whom Assadi wanted to assassinate in 2018 must first be informed of his extradition so that they can appeal against it. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo justified his actions by saying: “Olivier’s life has always come first. I take responsibility for that.” Belgium will not give up on anyone, especially not if they are innocent.
40 years in prison and 74 lashes
Vandecasteele was arrested in Tehran on February 24, 2022, the day Russia invaded Ukraine. There he worked for two aid organizations from 2015 to 2021. Despite a warning from the Belgian authorities, he returned to the country to liquidate his household there. In Iran, as is usual with hostage-taking of this kind, he was charged with terrorism and sentenced at the end of the year to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes. This is what media loyal to the regime reported, but the verdict itself was not published. A release of the man, who was held in solitary confinement and was in serious health condition, was delayed because of the legal dispute in Belgium over Assadi’s extradition.
According to De Croos, Vandecasteele underwent a medical in Muscat on Friday morning so he could be returned in the best possible condition. The Prime Minister thanked his family for working “hand in hand”. The family’s lawyer spoke of “tremendous relief” on Friday. The relatives were informed of the release in the morning. De Croo announced this himself at noon, without mentioning that Assadi had also been handed over to Iran. The case of Tournai-born French-speaking Vandecasteele was followed with great interest across the country. His extradition was demanded on posters in Brussels. Only Flemish nationalists criticized the fact that the government had embarked on Tehran’s “hostage diplomacy” with its deal.
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