Action for the release of Olivier Vandecasteele in Waterloo

The initiative for the meeting in Waterloo came from the local authorities. Mayor Florence Reuter emphasized the apolitical nature of the meeting, which should also encourage family and friends of Vandecasteele. The Belgian has now been isolated in an Iranian cell for 340 days. According to Iranian media, he was guilty of espionage, among other things, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes.

Prisoner exchange?

Amnesty International and the support committee for Vandecasteele were also present. The family and the committee await the decision of the Constitutional Court, which must decide by March 8 at the latest on an extradition treaty that would allow a prisoner exchange between Belgium and Iran.

“Time for subterfuge is over”

“The Iranian authorities are out of reach. They follow a logic that will never be understood. But we turn to our government. The time for subterfuge is over. It is the mullahs who put Olivier in prison, but it is we who let him sit there”, Joris Brabant, Vandecasteele’s brother-in-law, argued for those present in Waterloo.