The health of a Belgian aid worker who has been sentenced to 40 years in prison in Iran is deteriorating rapidly, a spokesman for his supporters has told The National.
Olivier Vandecasteele, who has been detained in Iran for almost a year, will also receive 74 lashes and a $1 million fine, the judiciary said on Tuesday.
Olivier van Steirtegem, a friend of Mr Vandecasteele, said that he had lost 25kg and suffered from ear, stomach and dental infections that have not received proper medical attention. All his toenails have reportedly fallen off.
Last month, the family begged him to stop a hunger strike, which he conducted during what Mr van Steirtegem described as a “sham trial”, when they were allowed to speak to him for the first time on December 24 in a 10-minute video call.
“We told him: you need to help us buy more time, because we are doing everything we can to get you out,” Mr van Steirtegem said.
Mr van Steirtegem described Mr Vandecasteele’s detention conditions as torture.
Mr Vandecasteele, 41, has been in solitary confinement since his arrest in February 2022, which is widely believed to be linked to Iran's efforts to obtain the release of one of its diplomats jailed in Belgium for terrorism.
The lights are constantly on in his six-square-metre basement cell, and he had to wait for several months before being given a mattress to sleep on, Mr van Steirtegem said.
“The toilets in his cell are just a hole in the ground and he must ask for permission from the guards [the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC] to throw a bucket of water down the hole from time to time,” he said.
“He is fed neither fruit nor vegetables and has no access to books. We were told that all the books we have sent him were lost.”
'Hard blow' for family
Belgium's Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne previously described the aid worker's detention conditions as inhumane.
Hearing about his sentence this week via the media was a “hard blow” for the family, who have been on an “emotional roller coaster”, Mr van Steirtegem said.
They do not know where Mr Vandecasteele is currently located, although they do know that he was detained at Evin prison in Tehran for the first five months after his arrest before he was moved to an unknown location.
Last week, he was taken blindfolded to his first half-hour meeting with the Belgian ambassador to Iran in the presence of Iranian security guards, Mr van Steirtegem said.
We can’t let an innocent man die in prison
Olivier van Steirtegem,
spokesman for Olivier Vandecasteele's supporters
The Belgian ambassador confirmed to the family that he was in bad health.
Wounds caused by tight chains on his hands and ankles during his trial in December were still visible during their meeting, according to Mr van Steirtegem.
“Even if he were freed soon, he would need months or years to recover,” Mr van Steirtegem said.
The UN has called for the prohibition of long-term solitary confinement due to the acute psychological damage it causes.
Belgium's Foreign Affairs Ministry summoned Iran's ambassador on Tuesday after Mr Vandecasteele was sentenced for alleged spying, money laundering and currency smuggling.
Mr Vandecasteele was handed sentences totalling 40 years on a range of charges, but because they run concurrently, he will serve 12 and a half years in jail, the judiciary's Mizan Online website reported.
He can appeal against the verdict, the website said.
"No information regarding the charges or the verdict has ever been officially provided by Iran," Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said on Twitter.
It is unclear if the charges are related to anti-government protests that have convulsed Iran for the past four months, which Iranian authorities blame on foreign powers, without providing evidence.
Hostage diplomacy
Mr van Steirtegem said that in mid-December the family was informed by the Belgian Prime Minister and the Ministry of Justice that he had been sentenced to 28 years in prison.
He put the discrepancy with Tuesday’s sentence down to the arbitrary nature of Iran’s judiciary.
“I think that the extent of the punishment depends on how important the file is,” he said. “There is no rule of law in Iran.”
Iranian authorities did not publicise the sentencing in December.
Supporters of Mr Vandescasteele and rights groups have said for months that he is being held as part of Iran's "hostage diplomacy", an effort by Tehran to have Belgium release Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi, 50.
He was found in guilty in 2021 of orchestrating a plot to blow up an event organised by an exiled Iranian opposition group outside Paris in 2018.
The plot was foiled by European intelligence services, and Assadi, a diplomat stationed in Austria who was identified as having provided the explosives for the bomb, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Prisoner swap treaty
Efforts to exchange the two men came to a halt in December when Belgium's Constitutional Court temporarily suspended a prisoner-swap treaty after exiled Iranian opposition members challenged it on the grounds it would lead to the release of Assadi.
The constitutional court said the suspension was in place pending a ruling on the legality of the treaty, which is considered as Mr Vandecasteele’s only possibility for freedom.
The ruling is expected, at the latest, on March 8, Mr van Steirtegem said.
“We are working now with our lawyers to convince the court to apply the treaty, which is a copy of 74 other treaties that Belgium has signed. There is nothing special about the one between Iran and Belgium,” he said.
Belgium signed the treaty after Mr Vandecasteele’s arrest.
Friends and family are organising an event in Brussels on January 22, three days after Mr Vandecasteele’s 42nd birthday, to drum up support for his liberation.
A petition launched in December by Amnesty International calling for Mr Vandecasteele’s release has so far received close to 45,000 signatures.
Mr Vandecasteele is an aid worker who has worked in Afghanistan and Iran, where he focused on supporting Afghan refugees.
Mr Vandecasteele “must absolutely be freed,” Mr van Steirtegem said. “We can’t let an innocent man die in prison.”
360Vuz PROFILE
Date started: January 2017
Founder: Khaled Zaatarah
Based: Dubai and Los Angeles
Sector: Technology
Size: 21 employees
Funding: $7 million
Investors: Shorooq Partners, KBW Ventures, Vision Ventures, Hala Ventures, 500Startups, Plug and Play, Magnus Olsson, Samih Toukan, Jonathan Labin
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Scores
Oman 109-3 in 18.4 overs (Aqib Ilyas 45 not out, Aamir Kaleem 27) beat UAE 108-9 in 20 overs (Usman 27, Mustafa 24, Fayyaz 3-16, Bilal 3-23)
PROFILE OF STARZPLAY
Date started: 2014
Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand
Number of employees: 125
Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners
Match statistics
Dubai Sports City Eagles 8 Dubai Exiles 85
Eagles
Try: Bailey
Pen: Carey
Exiles
Tries: Botes 3, Sackmann 2, Fourie 2, Penalty, Walsh, Gairn, Crossley, Stubbs
Cons: Gerber 7
Pens: Gerber 3
Man of the match: Tomas Sackmann (Exiles)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What is Genes in Space?
Genes in Space is an annual competition first launched by the UAE Space Agency, The National and Boeing in 2015.
It challenges school pupils to design experiments to be conducted in space and it aims to encourage future talent for the UAE’s fledgling space industry. It is the first of its kind in the UAE and, as well as encouraging talent, it also aims to raise interest and awareness among the general population about space exploration.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
World%20Food%20Day%20
%3Cp%3ECelebrated%20on%20October%2016%2C%20to%20coincide%20with%20the%20founding%20date%20of%20the%20United%20Nations%20Food%20and%20Agriculture%20Organisation%2C%20World%20Food%20Day%20aims%20to%20tackle%20issues%20such%20as%20hunger%2C%20food%20security%2C%20food%20waste%20and%20the%20environmental%20impact%20of%20food%20production.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
more from Janine di Giovanni
From Conquest to Deportation
Jeronim Perovic, Hurst
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
India Test squad
Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rahul, Vijay, Pujara, Rahane (vc), Karun, Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Pandya, Ishant, Shami, Umesh, Bumrah, Thakur
KEY%20DATES%20IN%20AMAZON'S%20HISTORY
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Army of the Dead
Director: Zack Snyder
Stars: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera
Three stars
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20NOTHING%20PHONE%20(2A)
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