A court in Iran has sentenced a Belgian aid worker to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes.

Olivier Vandecasteele was convicted of espionage against Iran, collaborating with the US government, smuggling foreign currency and money laundering.

He denied any wrongdoing and Belgium condemned the charges as "fabricated".

Iran wants to swap the 41-year-old for diplomat Assadollah Assadi, who Belgium jailed last year for plotting to bomb an exiled opposition group's rally.

Last month, Belgium's Constitutional Court suspended a controversial prisoner exchange treaty, pending a final ruling on a challenge by the opposition group.

Mr Vandecasteele worked for six years in Iran for the Norwegian Refugee Council and other aid agencies.

He left the country last year, but returned in February against Belgian government advice in order to close down his apartment in Tehran.

During the brief visit he was arrested by Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) operatives and taken to Tehran's notorious Evin prison, where a number of European and US citizens are being detained on spying charges.

His family allege that he has been subjected to "inhumane conditions" that amount to torture while in detention and that he began a partial hunger strike in mid-November to protest against his treatment.

At the end of November, Belgian consular officials were allowed to speak to Mr Vandecasteele for the first time in seven weeks. He told them that he had appeared before a court without the knowledge of Belgian diplomats or his Iranian lawyers, and that he was convicted of all charges brought against him without being told what he was alleged to have done.

Last month, his family said they had been told by Belgium's prime minister that he had been given a 28-year jail term. The Iranian judiciary neither confirmed nor denied the sentence at the time.

On Tuesday, the judiciary's Mizan news agency reported that a Revolutionary Court in Tehran had given Mr Vandecasteele three sentences of 12 and a half years in prison on the charges of espionage, collaborating with a hostile government and money laundering, and a fourth sentence of two and a half years and 74 lashes on the charge of smuggling foreign currency.

The verdict was not final and the defendant had the right to appeal within 20 days, Mizan added.

Iran's penal code states that when an individual is convicted of at least three separate crimes that do not carry the death penalty they will serve the longest of those sentences. It was unclear if this would apply to Vandecasteele.

Belgium's foreign ministry said it had summoned the Iranian ambassador in response to Mizan's report.

"Iran has provided no official information regarding the charges against Olivier Vandecasteele or his trial," a statement said.

"Belgium continues to condemn this arbitrary detention and is doing everything possible to put an end to it."

A spokesman for Mr Vandecasteele's family said it was devastated by the news.

"Belgium must do everything in order to remove Olivier from this brutal regime," Olivier Van Steirtegem told the BBC.

The family said the prime minister had told them last month that a prisoner swap was the only way to secure his release.

Source:
courtesy of BBC NEWS

by David Gritten

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]