Iran sentences Belgian aid worker to nearly 40 years in prison and 74 lashes

Photo: FRANCOIS WALSCHAERTS/AFP/Getty Images

After punishing several of its citizens to jail or even death for participating in protests, now the Iranian authorities an aid worker from Belgium was sentenced.

According to the website of the Iranian judiciary, a Revolutionary Court sentenced Belgian citizen Olivier Vandecasteele to about 40 years in jail and 74 lashes for various crimes committed in Iran.

In addition to the lashing, Vandecasteele, 41, was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison for espionage12.5 years for collaboration with hostile governments and 12.5 years for money laundering. He was also fined $1 million and sentenced to 2.5 years for currency smuggling.

According to the AP agency, Iran has not revealed any details about the charges against Vandecasteele. It is not clear if they are related to the anti-government protests that have been going on in Iran for months.

The family of the Belgian citizen stated last month that he had been held in an Iranian prison for months and on a hunger strike. They stated that he had been deprived of access to a lawyer of his choice and that he was suffering from serious health problems.

Government of Belgium responds

The authorities of Belgium have recommended its citizens to leave the Asian countryor, warning them that they run the risk of arbitrary arrests or unfair trials, like that of Vandecasteele.

“Iran has not facilitated no official information about the charges against Olivier Vandecasteele or about his trial,” Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said in a statement. “We will summon the ambassador today given the information circulating in the press,” he added.

“Belgium continues to condemn this arrest arbitrary and is doing everything possible to end it and improve the conditions of his detention,” Lahbib added.

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