A Belgian citizen was arrested in Iran on February 24 for an alleged "criminal espionage", Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne announced on Tuesday, denouncing "an illegal deprivation of liberty".
The minister was speaking during a debate before a parliamentary committee on a controversial Belgian-Iranian treaty for the transfer of sentenced persons.
Iranian opponents in exile believe that this text paves the way for the surrender to Iran, and a possible pardon, of the Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi, sentenced in Belgium in February 2021 to 20 years in prison for terrorism.
A treaty with “guarantees”
Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian intelligence agent acting under diplomatic cover, was found guilty of planning an attack on June 30, 2018 in Villepinte, near Paris, against a gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), coalition of Iranian opponents whose main component is the People's Mojahedin Organization (MEK).
Vincent Van Quickenborne swept aside the concerns of the NCRI, assuring that the treaty negotiated with Tehran included “guarantees”, and “does not oblige[ait] nothing” the signatory States “to accept a transfer request”.
By concluding this treaty for the transfer of convicts, there was "in no way a question of establishing a link with individual files", affirmed the minister, stressing that this cooperation had been initiated by the previous Belgian government from the end of 2016.
“There are human lives at stake”
At the same time, Vincent Van Quickenborne revealed this arrest of a compatriot in Iran four months ago, providing proof that Belgian interests and nationals are threatened in this country.
In Iran, "there are human lives at stake, these are not my words, these are those of our security services", said the minister.
He did not detail the charges against this Belgian, or specify whether he had already been convicted.
"I cannot say more at the express request of the family," he said.
But "Foreign Affairs is following the file closely, our ambassador has already visited [the detainee] twice", according to him.
According to Belgian media, he is an aid worker.
The treaty signed on March 11 between Brussels and Tehran was urgently submitted last week to the Belgian Parliament.
It is included in a bill with four other international treaties which could be submitted as of Thursday to the deputies gathered in plenary session.
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