After five days of freedom, Olivier Vandecasteele has shared his first update since his return to Belgium, expressing his "eternal gratitude" for all the support received while imprisoned for 455 days in an Iranian cell.
Vandecasteele was detained in Iran for over a year on alleged charges of espionage. For his return, Belgium and Iran implemented a prisoner swap, exchanging the humanitarian worker for convicted Iranian terrorist Assadollah Assadi, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Belgium. On Friday 26 May, Vandecasteele arrived back in Belgium.
"I have been back in Belgium for five days now and I am doing well," he wrote in a letter. "After 15 months of arbitrary detention, I am gradually coming back into contact with another reality: a beautiful week in my democratic Belgium. I can only say that the discrepancy is huge."
He said that he was not expecting the outpour of support in Belgium and beyond. "As I did not have any direct access to information from the outside world during my solitary confinement (for 13 consecutive months), I had no idea of the extent of mobilisation in Belgium and abroad."
Vandecasteele underlined that he was "deeply moved" by the extent of the support in Belgium. He says he is "amazed" by all the actions, petitions, op-eds, banners, drawings, cards and letters from friends, colleagues, students, academics, artists, athletes, and "all of the Belgians and Europeans compatriots who mobilised to set me free."
"Your support combined with the many efforts of the government and their teams made all the difference. This support was also essential to get my family and friends through this storm. I will never be able to thank them enough for having withstood this for 15 long months."
He stressed that, "slowly but surely," he wants to reconnect with everyone and take the time to thank them for believing in his innocence and for everything they did to have him released.
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"Finally, I would like to thank you wholeheartedly for the kindness with which my family and myself have been surrounded since my return. There is much love, allowing us to reunite peacefully and discreetly."
He ended his letter with an appeal to continue the fight for the release of other innocent hostages around the world and actively support projects that promote the values of humanity, solidarity and hope. "This world, which is unfortunately often terribly cynical, needs it now more than ever."
