Belgium's Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne has contradicted an announcement made by Iran that the much-discussed prisoner swap to free Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele has been agreed.
Despite long efforts to broker an agreement that would see Vandecasteele liberated in exchange for the release from prison of Iranian diplomat-terrorist Assadollah Assadi, rumours that a deal had been secured were contradicted by Van Quickenborne and Vandecasteele's family.
The Belgian aid worker has been detained in Iran since February 2022 and will reportedly be exchanged for Iranian diplomat Assadi, a spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary, Masoud Setayeshi, told Reuters. Assadi is a convicted Iranian terrorist who was sentenced in February 2021 to 20 years in prison in Belgium for his involvement in a foiled Paris bombing.
"Belgium has asked for an exchange, as we asked for our diplomat Assadi. According to the necessary protocols, such an exchange can take place quickly," Setayeshi said.
On Twitter, Belgian Justice Minister Van Quickenborne said that the news about Vandecasteele is "not correct" and added that it comes from "a rogue state" aiming to "sow confusion on the hood of an innocent compatriot and his family." This is a "very delicate operation," he added. "We will continue to do everything we can to get him back to us as soon as possible."
However, an application from the Iranian regime to allow Assadi to return to Iran was indeed submitted – which is an important step, government sources told De Morgen.
Belgium and Iran concluded an agreement on the transfer of prisoners, which has been approved by the Chamber. Using that, Belgium recently also asked Iran to bring Vandecasteele over, but there is no deal with Iran on an exchange.
If all conditions of the transfer protocol are met, a prisoner can return to their country of origin, the agreement states. But the chances that Iran will allow Vandecasteele to come to Belgium without guarantees of Assadi's release are very small. The inverse is true.
In practice this means that though a prisoner exchange would take place, there would be no exchange agreement. This is an important nuance, as Belgium's Constitutional Court provisionally suspended the exchange deal on the grounds that it is illegal given that Assadi could escape punishment by returning to Iran.
Appeals for the treaty to be annulled were considered but rejected, and the treaty entered into force on 18 April, after which Belgium immediately submitted a transfer request for Vandecasteele.
After having been detained for nearly a year, Vandecasteele was sentenced to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes on fabricated charges of espionage in a sham trial in January 2023. According to his family, who have had brief contact with him, Vandecasteele is in solitary confinement and is not receiving treatment for excruciating muscle and nerve pain.
