Iran Press/ Europe: An Iranian diplomat, Assadollah Asadi, was arrested in July 2018 in the German state of Bavaria while returning to his residence in Vienna, despite having political immunity. One hundred days after his arrest, Asadi was transferred to Belgium in October 2018 with an illegal sentence by the German court in Karlsruhe. Following his transfer, the Belgian Antwerp Criminal Court illegally sentenced Asadi to 20 years in prison, contrary to his diplomatic immunity under the 1961 Vienna Convention.
Despite the harmful efforts of the opposition groups and some American Congress members, the bill was ratified by Belgian MPs.
13 Democratic and Republican US House of Representatives members requested the Belgian Parliament not to approve the prisoner exchange plan with Iran.
Local media in Belgium reported on Wednesday that the prisoner exchange bill between Iran and Belgium was approved by the Foreign Relations Commission of the Belgian Parliament and is scheduled to be voted on Thursday in the Belgian Parliament.
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Iran slams detention of Assadollah Asadi
Iran reacts to media hype about illegal imprisonment of its diplomat in Belgium
