Olivier Vandecasteele, a Belgian former aid worker who has been unjustly detained in Iran for over ten months and has been sentenced to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes after a sham trial, has stopped his partial hunger strike, Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said on Thursday.
Vandecasteele, who has been in an Iranian cell since 24 February 2022, has been convicted of four criminal offences including espionage, according to an Iranian news agency. He was given 28 years in prison at the end of last year, to which another 12 years have now been added. Additionally, he was also sentenced to 74 lashes.
Belgium is "doing everything possible" to advocate for Vandecasteele's release and to improve his detention conditions, Lahbib repeated in the Chamber on Thursday. The Belgian ambassador to Iran has already been able to visit Vandecasteele seven times, most recently on 4 January. He lost a lot of weight, but his health condition is relatively stable and he has stopped his hunger strike, Lahbib said.
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Iran's Ambassador to Belgium has already been summoned ten times, most recently last Tuesday.
Lahbib also warned Iran's Foreign Minister of the impact on bilateral relations should Vandecasteele be tortured, Lahbib told the House. "He is a victim of inhuman treatment and we demand his immediate release. Whatever the reasons for his detention, they are totally arbitrary."
More information about Vandecasteele's situation can be found here.
