Belgian law project allowing transfer of convicts to Iran faces opposition

The Belgian Federal Parliament will discuss next week a convention on the transfer to Iran of convicted persons in Belgium.

On July 1, opponents of the Iranian regime protested near the Federal Parliament building. The Flemish N-VA party wonders whether the approval should pave the way for an exchange between the Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi, sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Antwerp court ​ for terrorism, could be exchanged for two Western nationals, detained in Tehran: the Iranian-Swedish scientist Ahmad Reza Jalali, former professor at the university from Brussels (VUB) and the French tourist Benjamin Brière.

Opponents fear the text will lead to Assadi's release once he is handed over to Iran. Assadi was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Antwerp on February 4, 2021 for attempted murder and for participating in the activities of a terrorist organization in the Villepinte attack in France. He had not appealed his sentence. His three Belgian-Iranian accomplices received sentences of 17 to 18 years in prison. The sentences were confirmed on appeal, and even aggravated for one of them, last May.

In an open letter, the law firm Beauthier, which assists opposition representatives, calls on parliament not to approve "the fatal bill". It refers to Article 13 of the text that stipulates that "any party may grant a pardon, amnesty or commutation of the conviction, in accordance with its Constitution or other legal provisions."

It was N-VA party leader Peter De Roover who questioned Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open VLD) about the text in the House. 

"In those treaties we explicitly include guarantees for respect for human rights and the rule of law. We have done so in the past, namely when we concluded such a treaty with Congo in 2014 and with China in 2018. Now we will once again register guarantees with regard to the rule of law, the execution of the sentences and human rights. After all, our country has a strong international reputation in this area and we must uphold that reputation," replied the minister.

The bill would not only affect Iran, but also India and the United Arab Emirates.

(VIV)

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© BELGA PHOTO (JOHN THYS / AFP) A Belgian police officer stands guard at the entrance of the Antwerp courthouse, on February 4, 2021, when the Belgian court convicted the Iranian diplomat for plotting a 2018 bombing of an opposition rally outside Paris.