Legal battle continues in Belgium on extradition of Iranian diplomat convicted for terrorist attack

BRUSSELS (AA) – An appeal against the law allowing the extradition of an Iranian diplomat jailed for terrorism charges has been filed at the Belgian Constitutional Court, while a first instance court approved the prisoner exchange, according to local media.

Iranian diplomat Assadolah Assadi was sentenced last year by a Belgian court to 20 years in prison for attempting a bomb attack at a protest near Paris in 2018.

According to Belgian daily Het Niewsblad, a Brussels court prepared the legal ground for extraditing Assadi to Iran based on a controversial deal between Brussels and Tehran allowing prisoner exchange.

The treaty, which was ratified by Belgian lawmakers in June, would enable the return of Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandeecasteele, who has been held in Iran since February.

According to critics, the deal might serve as a further ground for Iran to take hostages.

The legal battle will not end because, in the meantime, an appeal against the treaty that would authorize Assadi’s extradition has been filed at the Belgian Constitutional Court, daily Le Soir revealed on Tuesday.

The motion asks for annulling the ratified law and immediately suspending its application.

The Vienna-based diplomat was involved in a plot to kill leaders of the opposition group National Council of the Resistance of Iran in 2018 in France, according to the ruling of the Antwerpen Court.

The attack was prevented by a coordinated operation of the Belgian, German, and French police.

Assadi said during their trial that they had been blackmailed by Iran to take part in the terror attack. Iran denied the allegation, accusing the exiled opposition group of preparing a false plot to harm Tehran’s reputation.