Appeals court ruling against three Iranian terrorists postponed (Antwerp)
The arrest of the Antwerp Court of Appeal against three Iranians has been postponed to Thursday 5 May. The trial involved a thwarted bomb attack on a meeting of the Iranian resistance movement MEK in Villepinte, France in 2018.
Source† BELGA
Normally Tuesday the three Iranian defendants, Amir S. (41), Nasimeh N. (37) and Mehrdad A. (58), have to hear their arrest. The federal prosecutor’s office demanded confirmation of their sentences in the first instance, which amounts to 15, 18 and 17 years in prison, and the loss of their Belgian nationality.
The client, Iranian diplomat Assadollah A., who was increased to the maximum sentence of 20 years, withdrew his appeal.
The defendants could face charges of attempted terrorist murder and participation in the activities of a terrorist group. They are said to have been active for the Iranian intelligence service that fights international opposition movements, such as MEK.
The couple from Wilrijk Amir S. and Nasimeh N. was monitored by Belgian state security. They had received an explosive, a mobile phone, a remote control and an envelope with 18,000 euros from Assadollah A. in June 2018. A few days later, the couple left for Villepinte, near Paris, where the MEK is protecting a conference. The couple was on their way to Woluwe with half a kilo of explosives.
The couple has had sympathy for the MEK, but is said to have been pressured by Iranian intelligence to gather information. Assadollah became A. on July 1, 2018. He was then a diplomat at the Iranian embassy in Vienna for three years.