Watchdog

A group of 11 human rights organizations have appealed to Belgium to cancel a recent agreement with Iran on the mutual exchange of prisoners.

In a joint statement released on July 12, the groups appealed to the Belgian parliament to cancel the accord, saying it could result in the release of a convicted terrorist and "legitimize Iran's hostage-taking."

The groups warned that the agreement violated the commitment of Belgium and the European Union to hold perpetrators of terrorist acts accountable.

According to the Belgian newspaper De Morgen, the accord was expected to pave the way for the release of Ahmadreza Djalali, a Brussels university professor with dual Iranian-Swedish citizenship who has been held in Iran since 2016 and has been convicted of espionage, and Olivier Vandecasteele, a Belgian aid worker who has been held in isolation in Iran for five months after being accused of spying.

Iran has called for the release of Assadollah Assadi, sentenced to 20 years in prison in Belgium in 2021 in connection with a plot to bomb a rally of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an exiled opposition group, outside Paris in June 2018.

The NCRI is the political wing of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO or MEK), an exiled opposition group that seeks to overthrow the Islamic republic.

The Foreign Relations Committee of Belgium's lower house of parliament debated the treaty over two days before finally approving it on July 6.

The measure still needs to be put before the full 150-member lower house, but the chamber normally follows the votes of its committees.

The Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation, the Siamak Pourzand Foundation, the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, and the Kurdistan Human Rights Network are among the signatories of the statement.

They have warned that Belgium should not facilitate the "shameless use of human lives as a tool" by the authorities of the Islamic republic.

With writing and reporting by Ardeshir Tayebi

MINSK -- Belarusian journalist Katsyaryna Andreyeva, who is serving a two-year prison sentence for covering protests against authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka and who was expected to be released in September, has been sentenced to eight years in prison on new charges of high treason.

A court in the southeastern region of Gomel sentenced the Belsat news agency journalist on July 13. The details of the charges remain unknown as the trial, which began on July 4, was held behind closed doors.

Andreyeva, also known as Bakhvalava, and her colleague, Darya Chultsova, were both sentenced to two years in prison in February 2021 after being convicted of "organizing public events aimed at disrupting civil order." They were arrested in November 2020 while they were covering a rally in Minsk commemorating Raman Bandarenka.

The two women rejected the charges against them, calling them politically motivated and asserting they attended the protest as journalists.

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Bandarenka died from injuries sustained during a vicious beating by a group of masked assailants -- whom rights activists say were affiliated with the authorities -- during one of the weekly rallies demanding Lukashenka's resignation after he claimed victory in an August 2020 presidential election that the opposition says was rigged.

Belarusian and international human rights organizations have recognized Andreyeva and Chultsova as political prisoners and say all charges should be dropped and they should be released immediately.

Security officials have cracked down hard on any dissent against Lukashenka's rule, arresting thousands, including dozens of journalists who covered the rallies, and pushing most of the top opposition figures out of the country.

Several protesters have been killed, and some rights organizations say there is credible evidence of torture by security officials against some of those detained.

Lukashenka, who has run the country with a tight grip since 1994, has denied any wrongdoing with regard to the election and refuses to negotiate with the opposition on stepping down and holding a new election.

The European Union, the United States, Canada, and other countries have refused to recognize Lukashenka, 67, as the legitimate leader of Belarus and have slapped him and senior Belarusian officials with sanctions in response to the "falsification" of the 2020 vote and the brutal postelection crackdown.