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.



Italy Says No US Extradition Request for Detained Iranian Businessman So Far

A seagull stands in front of an Italian flag flying at half-mast on the Altare della Patri-Vittorio Emanuele II monument in Rome, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. (AFP Photo)
A seagull stands in front of an Italian flag flying at half-mast on the Altare della Patri-Vittorio Emanuele II monument in Rome, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. (AFP Photo)
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Italy Says No US Extradition Request for Detained Iranian Businessman So Far

A seagull stands in front of an Italian flag flying at half-mast on the Altare della Patri-Vittorio Emanuele II monument in Rome, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. (AFP Photo)
A seagull stands in front of an Italian flag flying at half-mast on the Altare della Patri-Vittorio Emanuele II monument in Rome, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. (AFP Photo)

The United States has not submitted any formal request of extradition for an Iranian businessman Mohammad Abedini detained in Milan, Italy's justice minister said in an interview published on Thursday.
"The matter of Abedini is purely legal ... regardless of the (freeing of Italian journalist) Cecilia Sala. It is premature to talk of extradition, also because no formal request has been sent to our ministry so far," Justice Minister Carlo Nordio told daily La Stampa.
Abedini is wanted by the United States on suspicion of involvement in a drone strike against US forces in Jordan. Iran has denied involvement and said last week the detention of the Iranian national amounted to hostage-taking.
His arrest has been linked to the detention three days later of Italian reporter Cecilia Sala, who was seized in Tehran on Dec. 19 while working under a regular journalistic visa and freed on Jan. 8.