Olivier Vandecasteele was able to make video calls with family on Christmas Eve

It was the first time they had contacted him since his conviction at a “mock trial” in November. After an application via the Belgian ambassador in Iran, Vandecasteele’s family received a telephone call from an Iranian official on Saturday.

Then Olivier himself came into the picture. Twenty kilograms lighter, with a serious infection on his foot and in only a T-shirt, despite the freezing temperatures in Iran. He does not get warmer clothes. Vandecasteele has been on hunger strike for a month.

Mock trial

The conversation had to be in English and could not refer in any way to the trial in Iran and the decision of the Belgian Constitutional Court. Nevertheless, Vandecasteele could tell that he was transported to court in November, chained to arms and legs. He himself speaks of a “sham trial”, where he was sentenced to 28 years in prison.

Under the influence of his guards, Vandecasteele has become convinced that no one in Belgium is paying attention to his case, which has been dragging on for ten months. His family was able to make it clear to him that the opposite is true.

Prison exchange

A day later, at Christmas, dozens of relatives, friends and sympathizers gathered in Brussels to demand his release. NGO employee Olivier Vandecasteele has been detained in Iran since February 24. The reasons for this are still unknown. It is suspected that the country wants to exchange him for the terrorist Assadollah Assadi, who has served five of his twenty years in prison so far.

But due to a suspension of the Iran deal, which makes that kind of transfer of prisoners possible, that is not possible for the time being. In February, the Constitutional Court will decide whether or not to annul the agreement. Vandecasteele’s family and friends are now doing everything they can to prevent the destruction of the Iran deal. “It is the only track,” says spokesperson and best friend Olivier Van Streitegem. “In our legal system, Assadi can be released after a third of his sentence, which is already in two years. By the way, he has not made any victims in our country, the only victim here is Olivier.”