Belgium: The Belgian Constitutional Court has destroyed an agreement reached between Belgium and Iran on the release of Iranian diplomat Assadollah Asadi, who is currently serving a twenty-year sentence in a Belgian prison.
The court decided to rule against the agreement following extensive pressure by Iranian “opposition” organisations operating in Europe, particularly from the infamous MEK movement, which is listed as a terrorist organisation in Iran and Iraq but maintains an extensive presence in countries like the US, France and Albania.
Assadollah Asadi, who was a diplomat at the Iranian embassy in Austria, was arrested in Germany in 2018 and tried in Belgium for an alleged plot against the MEK in France.
The decision to render his release impossible has been met with protest by some parties in Belgium, in particular since Asadi’s planned release is widely believed to have been part of an exchange for Olivier Vandecasteele, a Belgian who is imprisoned in Iran on charges of espionage.
