Belgium’s top court reopens door for contentious prisoner-swap deal with Iran
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Loading... - Emillie Mertens
- 25 Apr 2023
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The deal could allow an exchange between a Belgian aid worker jailed in Iran and an Iranian diplomat convicted for terrorism in Belgium.
Belgium’s highest court on Friday overturned a freeze on a controversial treaty on prisoner exchanges that could allow an Iranian diplomat convicted of terrorism to be sent back to Tehran.
The treaty would allow Iranians convicted in Belgium to serve their sentence in Iran, and vice-versa.
It had been approved by the Belgian parliament last July, but was put on hold by the Belgian Constitutional Court in December, out of fear that Tehran would not hold its end of the bargain.
The Court now dismissed those concerns, but said in a statement on Friday evening the victims should be informed of the decision.
The treaty could pave the way for an exchange between a Belgian humanitarian worker, Olivier Vandecasteele, imprisoned in Iran for over a year on charges which the Belgian authorities have labeled as “fabricated,” and an Iranian diplomat, Assadollah Assadi.
Assadi was sentenced to 20 years in prison by an Antwerp court in 2021 for plotting a bomb attack against a rally organized by Iranian dissidents near Paris — which was foiled thanks to a tip from Israeli intelligence to European authorities. Read More..
