Judgment of the Constitutional Court is a ‘positive sign’ for the Vandecasteele family

The treaty that allows an exchange between Belgian and Iranian prisoners has therefore not been destroyed. That does not mean that Vandecasteele will be released immediately. It’s not quite there yet. It does mean that ‘the Iran deal’ is possible again. This deal includes the exchange between Olivier Vandecasteele and the convicted Iranian terrorist Assadollah Assadi, who is imprisoned in a Belgian cell. “We now have to do everything we can to get Olivier back,” says Olivier Van Steirtegem, friend of Vandecasteele and spokesperson for the family, in response to the judgment.

“We are now in the same situation just after last summer’s approval,” he says. Then the Chamber of Representatives gave the green light to the treaty with Iran that should make a prisoner exchange possible. “Unfortunately, seven months have been lost,” said Van Steirtegem. The spokesman for the family of the Belgian aid worker also officially asks the complainants who had gone to the Constitutional Court against the Iran deal, such as the Iranian resistance council NCRI, to “stop the legal nightmare”. “The Constitutional Court has made a very clear decision,” he says. The family last had contact with Vandecasteele on January 20. “We fear for his health. He is not in good shape.”

The Court on Friday rejected the appeal against the treaty, which regulates the transfer of prisoners between Iran and Belgium. That Iran deal could enable Vandecasteele’s release. In exchange for his release, Belgium could transfer Iranian dummy diplomat Assadolah Assadi to Iran. In 2021, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in our country for his role in a – foiled – terrorist attack in Paris. The Court did set a condition: in order to guarantee the right to life of the victims of the thwarted attack, the Belgian government must inform them of the transfer of the convicted person, so that they can have the legality of this checked by a court.