▲ An Iranian dissident event held near Paris in June 2018
An Iranian diplomat was sentenced to heavy sentences in a Belgian court for attempting to bomb dissidents.
Foreign media including Iranian media reported that today (4th) local time, a Belgian court sentenced diplomat Asadola Asadi, who was accused of conspiracy to terrorism, to 20 years in prison.
This is the first time since the Iranian Revolution in 1979 that an Iranian diplomat has been sentenced to prison in the European Union.
The prosecutor in charge told Reuters, “This ruling has shown that diplomats cannot enjoy immunity for criminal offenses.”
Asadi’s lawyer has not commented on the ruling.
Asadi was arrested and handed over to trial in June 2018 on charges of plotting a bomb attack aimed at an event by Iranian dissidents in Villepinte, outside Paris.
Asadi, a former Iranian diplomat in Vienna, Austria, was arrested in Luxembourg before the event after meeting an accomplice of Belgian Iranian couples.
At the time of arrest, the Iranian couple were confirmed to have received 0.5kg of explosives and detonators from Asadi.
At that time, about 25,000 Iranian dissidents living in Europe participated.
(Photo = Reuters, Yonhap News)
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