The Iranian authorities have increased the sentence meted out to Flemish aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele (41). Last year the Belgian was told he would have to serve a 28-year sentence for espionage. This sentence has been increased to 40 years. Iranian media say Vandecasteele will also be subjected to 74 whiplashes.
Critics of the Iranian regime say the Belgian was convicted by a kangaroo court. Vandecasteele had earlier been held for ten months without being informed of any charges. At the start of January it emerged the Iranians had found him guilty of espionage, money laundering, jeopardising national security and collaboration with the US.
It's thought the Belgian is being held to serve as a bargaining chip amid Iranian attempts to get the former diplomat and convicted terrorist Assadollah Assadi freed from a Belgian jail. Belgium’s constitutional court earlier suspended a treaty with Iran that would enable the prisoner exchange. A definitive ruling is still awaited.
As a result of the poor conditions in which he was held Vandecasteele is seriously ill. The UN has already said the Belgian is being held in appalling conditions.