12-04-2023 | di COOPI

Free Olivier Vandecasteele

Olivier Vandecasteele, a Belgian aid worker, was unjustly accused and sentenced for espionage in Iran to 40 years in prison and 74 strokes of the whip on 10 January 2023. With Médecins du Monde, Amnesty International and many other NGOs, COOPI - Cooperazione Internazionale joins the campaign for his immediate release: #FreeOlivierVandecasteele. 

The cooperator, a victim of enforced disappearance, was on a short trip to Iran, where he had previously lived and worked. On his arrival at the airport, he was arrested by plainclothes agents. Between February and August 2022, he was subjected to ill-treatment and torture in the already infamous Evin prison. He is currently in an unknown location, in inhuman prison conditions.

To support the release of Olivier Vandecasteele, you can:

• Sign the petition promoted by Amnesty International (in French) 
• Send a petition directly to the judiciary;
• Engage the public on social media by posting a photo with the #FreeOlivierVandecasteele sign and informing them how to mobilise for his release:

The Belgian Minister of Justice has stated that the arrest is directly linked to the conviction in Belgium of an Iranian ex-diplomat for crimes of terrorism. This further fuels the unjust and unjustified arrest of the cooperator.

With Amnesty International, we emphasise the importance, while awaiting his release, of surveying the place where he is being detained, of making checks on how he is being detained, and of allowing him to appeal to a lawyer of his choice, so that he can also have contact with his family and with the services of the Belgian Consulate.

COOPI- Cooperazione Internazionale joins the appeal that is being raised internationally for the release of Olivier VandeCasteele. Action is needed now.