LOOK. Assadi back in Iran after prisoner exchange with Vandecasteele
Just as Belgium accused Iran of conducting a mock trial, Iran also believes that the trial in our country was a mock trial. But the allegations of torture go one step further. IRNA reports that Assadi’s wife is now testifying about the “torture by the Belgian government”.
According to the woman, her husband had also been treated badly in a German cell, where he was before being extradited to Belgium. There he would have had poor access to potable water.
In Belgium, where Assadi was imprisoned for 1,789 days according to his wife, the convicted diplomat was said to have spent 100 days in a cell that is actually intended for prisoners with a mental disability, IRNA reports. In addition, Assadi is said to have spent 28 days naked in a “water bunker”. It is not clear what such a bunker is specifically.
Finally, according to his wife, Assadi would have spent about 3 months in solitary confinement. According to Tehran, the detention of Assadi was always illegal by definition, because he would have diplomatic immunity.
Olivier Vandecasteele was released last Friday after being wrongly held in an Iranian prison for 15 months. He spent 13 months in solitary confinement. Vandecasteele told his family about the physical and psychological terror he had to endure.