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Thousands Protest in Brussels Demanding Release of Belgian Aid Worker in Iran

Demonstrators hold a banner with the portrait of detained Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, as they take part in a solidarity rally organized by Human rights group Amnesty International and a support committee to ask for his liberation, in Brussels on January 22, 2023. (AFP)
Demonstrators hold a banner with the portrait of detained Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, as they take part in a solidarity rally organized by Human rights group Amnesty International and a support committee to ask for his liberation, in Brussels on January 22, 2023. (AFP)
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Thousands Protest in Brussels Demanding Release of Belgian Aid Worker in Iran

Demonstrators hold a banner with the portrait of detained Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, as they take part in a solidarity rally organized by Human rights group Amnesty International and a support committee to ask for his liberation, in Brussels on January 22, 2023. (AFP)
Demonstrators hold a banner with the portrait of detained Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, as they take part in a solidarity rally organized by Human rights group Amnesty International and a support committee to ask for his liberation, in Brussels on January 22, 2023. (AFP)

Thousands of people took to the streets of Brussels on Sunday to protest against the detention in Iran of Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, who was sentenced to 40 years in prison on charges including spying.

The Belgian government has said the charges are fake.

"His life is in danger, contribute to his freedom," "#Free Olivier Vandecasteele," read banners held by protesters who included Vandecasteele's family, friends and colleagues.

After Vandecasteele was sentenced last month, Belgium's justice minister said the Belgian had been imprisoned "for a fabricated series of crimes" and had been sentenced as retribution for a 20-year jail term Belgian courts imposed on an Iranian diplomat in 2021.

Belgium's constitutional court will next month hold a hearing on the legality of a Belgian prisoner exchange treaty with Iran.

Belgian media has suggested this could lead to a prisoner swap between the two countries involving the Iranian diplomat, convicted of planning a bomb plot against an exiled opposition group, and Vandecasteele.

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Thousands of Australians Without Power as Heavy Rain, Damaging Winds Lash Tasmania

The Coomera river is seen cutting a road at Clagiraba Road on the Gold Coast Tuesday, January 2, 2024. (AAP)
The Coomera river is seen cutting a road at Clagiraba Road on the Gold Coast Tuesday, January 2, 2024. (AAP)
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Thousands of Australians Without Power as Heavy Rain, Damaging Winds Lash Tasmania

The Coomera river is seen cutting a road at Clagiraba Road on the Gold Coast Tuesday, January 2, 2024. (AAP)
The Coomera river is seen cutting a road at Clagiraba Road on the Gold Coast Tuesday, January 2, 2024. (AAP)

Tens of thousands of people in Australia's southern island state of Tasmania were without power on Sunday after a cold front brought damaging winds and heavy rains, sparking flood warnings.
"Around 30,000 customers are without power across the state this morning," Tasnetworks, a state-owned power company, said on Facebook on Sunday.
The nation's weather forecaster said on its website that a cold front over Tasmania, population around 570,000 people, was moving away, "although bands of showers and thunderstorms continue to pose a risk of damaging wind gusts."
Properties, power lines and infrastructure had been damaged, Tasmania's emergency management minister Felix Ellis said in a televised media conference, adding that "the damage bill is likely to be significant".
Emergency authorities issued warnings for flooding, which they said could leave Tasmanians isolated for several days, as the state prepared for another cold front forecast to hit on Sunday night, Reuters reported.
“There is potential for properties to be inundated, and roads may not be accessible," executive director of Tasmania State Emergency Service, Mick Lowe, said in a statement.
Authorities had received 330 requests for assistance in the last 24 hours, according to the agency.
Tasmania is a one-hour flight or 10-hour ferry crossing from the mainland city of Melbourne, 445 km (275 miles) away. About 40% of the island is wilderness or protected areas.