Belgium and Islamic Republic conducted a prisoner exchange Friday in Oman, with officials saying Tehran released a Belgian aid worker in exchange for an Iranian diplomat convicted of attempting to bomb a meeting of exiles in France. Olivier Vandecasteele, had been freed in exchange for terrorist Assadollah Assadi
Mr Vandecasteele was sentenced to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes in January after an Iranian court convicted him of espionage and several other charges. He spent 455 days in jail. The move violated the Belgian constitutional court’s order that the victims of a convicted person should be informed of a planned transfer, so that they could seek a judicial review of its legality. Meanwhile Toomaj Salehi and other political prisoners remain in prison
