Following the sentencing of humanitarian worker Olivier Vandecasteele, on Sunday December 18th Belgium called on its nationals who are “passing through Iran” to leave the country. “Any Belgian visitor, including binationals, faces a high risk of arrest, arbitrary detention and unfair trial. This risk also affects people who make a simple tourist stay in Iran,” the Foreign Ministry warned in a press release.
Two hundred Belgian nationals were registered in Iran by the country’s consular services this summer. “In the event of arrest or detention, respect for fundamental rights and personal safety are not guaranteed. In this context, the capacity of the Belgian embassy in Tehran to provide consular protection to arrested or detained nationals is very limited,” the ministry said.
“Belgian nationals who are currently in Iran despite this warning are urged to exercise the utmost vigilance and take the necessary precautions to ensure their safety. Recently, a Belgian national and several other westerners were arbitrarily arrested and are now being detained in Iran,” the ministry said.
Imprisoned Aliens
Olivier Vandecasteele, who has been held in solitary confinement in Iran since his arrest on February 24, has been sentenced to 28 years in prison. According to his family, he was arrested without cause and the Iranian authorities have not released any statement on the charges against him.
A showdown has erupted between Belgium and Iran since the arrest of an Iranian diplomat, Assadollah Assadi, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Belgium in 2021 for a planned “terrorist” attack on the Iranian opposition. Belgium’s constitutional court on Thursday suspended a treaty on the transfer of convicts between Belgium and Iran, which Parliament passed in July to allow humanitarian aid to be returned, after appeals from scores of Iranian opponents in exile.
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Oliver Vandecasteele’s sister condemned the “unspeakable psychological torture” suffered by her brother, “innocent hostage of a legal and political battle” pitting Iran and Belgium against each other.
About fifty people gathered in Lyon on Sunday, including the city’s mayor, to demand his release. The Belgian humanist has been held in solitary confinement in Iran for no known reason since February.
More than twenty Western nationals, mostly dual nationals, are detained or stranded in Iran in what NGOs condemn as a policy of hostage-taking to win concessions from foreign powers.
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