Belgian MPs on Wednesday called on their country’s Prime Minister Alexander de Croo and government representatives to travel to Iran to pressurise Iranian authorities to free Belgian citizen and NGO worker Olivier Vandecasteele.
He was sentenced last week to 40 years in jail and 74 lashes after 11 months in solitary confinement.
“It seems important that parliament, our government, our Prime Minister, go to Iran to signal strongly that our people want to see their fellow citizen again among us,” said MP Daniel Senesael, a member of the socialist party.
“We must all have the courage to continue to fight so that human dignity remains a value that we can wield with strength and conviction,” he added, addressing Mr Vandecasteele’s sister Nathalie.
Ms Vandecasteele gave an emotional testimony to the Belgian Parliament’s Commission for External Relations one day after MPs voted in support of a largely symbolic resolution calling for the immediate release of her brother, whose health is deteriorating.
The resolution, which was passed on the same day as UN experts said Mr Vandecasteele’s detention was a “flagrant violation” of international law, states the charges against him are officially unknown and that he did not have access to a lawyer of his choice during his “sham trial”.
The Mizan judiciary website on January 10 reported that a Revolutionary Court sentenced Olivier Vandecasteele to 12 and a half years in prison for espionage, 12 and a half years for collaboration with hostile governments and 12 and a half years for money laundering. He was also fined $1 million and sentenced to two and a half years for currency smuggling.
“It’s like living in a nightmare that never ends,” his sister told MPs in Brussels.
Sobbing, Ms Vandecasteele asked them for “strong action on the part of Belgium” to free her brother.
The spokesman for her brother’s supporters, Olivier van Steirtegem, previously told The National that his detained friend 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.
MPs said they were moved by Ms Vandecasteele’s testimony.
“We must consider economic sanctions and dare conduct an on-site visit [to exert] maximum pressure,” said MP Catherine Fonck, a member of Les Engages, a centrist party.
The commission’s president, Els Van Hoof, said Belgian authorities must do more than verbally condemn Iran for what other MPs in the room described as a “hostage situation”.
But it remains unclear exactly what can be done to free Mr Vandecasteele, after the Belgian Constitutional Court in December suspended a prisoner swap treaty that was his supporters say was only option for freedom.
The suspension came after members of an Iranian opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, challenged the treaty on the grounds that it would lead to the release of Asadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat detained in Belgium for his involvement in a failed bomb attack against the NCRI.
The court will give a final decision in the coming weeks.
The NCRI said in a statement that the Belgian government should prosecute in absentia Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei should Mr Vandecasteele be subjected to lashes.
The statement accused Iran of trying to blackmail the Belgian government into releasing a “terrorist-diplomat”.
Yet some MPs were doubtful that a trip to Tehran by Belgian officials to discuss Mr Vandecasteele’s release would be a good idea.
“If our Prime Minister or Foreign Affairs Minister goes to Tehran, they need guarantees that they’ll return home with results,” said Malil Ben Achour, also a member of the Commission for External Relations and a member of the socialist party.
“At this stage, they’d come back empty-handed,” he told The National.
European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, initially floated the idea of Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib going to Iran during an interview with local radio last week.
“It’s very important to be on the ground to create face-to-face contact,” said Mr Reynders, a former Belgian foreign minister.
Ms Vandecasteele was more cautious as she discussed this possibility with MPs.
“I don’t know if it’s the solution," she said. "You are more qualified than I am to answer this question.”
THE SPECS
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 275hp at 6,600rpm
Torque: 353Nm from 1,450-4,700rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Top speed: 250kph
Fuel consumption: 6.8L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: Dh146,999
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
THE%20SPECS
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
LEAGUE CUP QUARTER-FINAL DRAW
Stoke City v Tottenham
Brentford v Newcastle United
Arsenal v Manchester City
Everton v Manchester United
All ties are to be played the week commencing December 21.
What you as a drone operator need to know
A permit and licence is required to fly a drone legally in Dubai.
Sanad Academy is the United Arab Emirate’s first RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) training and certification specialists endorsed by the Dubai Civil Aviation authority.
It is responsible to train, test and certify drone operators and drones in UAE with DCAA Endorsement.
“We are teaching people how to fly in accordance with the laws of the UAE,” said Ahmad Al Hamadi, a trainer at Sanad.
“We can show how the aircraft work and how they are operated. They are relatively easy to use, but they need responsible pilots.
“Pilots have to be mature. They are given a map of where they can and can’t fly in the UAE and we make these points clear in the lectures we give.
“You cannot fly a drone without registration under any circumstances.”
Larger drones are harder to fly, and have a different response to location control. There are no brakes in the air, so the larger drones have more power.
The Sanad Academy has a designated area to fly off the Al Ain Road near Skydive Dubai to show pilots how to fly responsibly.
“As UAS technology becomes mainstream, it is important to build wider awareness on how to integrate it into commerce and our personal lives,” said Major General Abdulla Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief, Dubai Police.
“Operators must undergo proper training and certification to ensure safety and compliance.
“Dubai’s airspace will undoubtedly experience increased traffic as UAS innovations become commonplace, the Forum allows commercial users to learn of best practice applications to implement UAS safely and legally, while benefitting a whole range of industries.”
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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More on Quran memorisation:
FIXTURES
New Zealand v France, second Test
Saturday, 12.35pm (UAE)
Auckland, New Zealand
South Africa v Wales
Sunday, 12.40am (UAE), San Juan, Argentina
Armies of Sand
By Kenneth Pollack (Oxford University Press)
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
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Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier
Results
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by 12 runs
Kuwait beat Iran by eight wickets
Oman beat Maldives by 10 wickets
Bahrain beat Qatar by six wickets
Semi-finals
UAE v Qatar
Bahrain v Kuwait
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
Where to apply
Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
