The wife of Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi, who was swapped for ex-prisoner Olivier Vandecasteele, is accusing Belgium of torturing her husband, Iranian news agency IRNA reported on Twitter on Thursday.
Just as Belgium accused Iran of subjecting Vandecasteele to a sham trial, Iran believes the same about the trial of Assadollah Assadi, convicted in Belgium of terrorism.
In Belgium, where he was imprisoned for 1,789 days, the diplomat reportedly spent 100 days in a cell intended for mentally disabled prisoners and was also put in solitary confinement for three months, IRNA reports, based on the words of his wife.
According to Assadi’s wife, he spent 28 days naked in a sort of bunker. The diplomat was also ill-treated in the German cell where he was held before being extradited to Belgium, she said. He reportedly had limited access to drinking water.
For Tehran, the detention of the 50-year-old was always illegal by definition, as he should have benefitted from diplomatic immunity.
