Trial of Assadollah Assadi
Last 4th of February 2020, Asadollah Asadi an Iranian diplomat has been judged guilty of « terrorist assassination attempts » and « participation in the activities of a terrorist group » by the Court of Justice of Antwerp, Belgium[1] for his implication in the missed terrorist attack on a rally of opponents of the Tehran’s regime in France in 2018[2]. He will serve a sentence of twenty years in prison and his three partners in crime were judged with jail penalties from fifteen to eighteen years.
Overview
In the case, four persons were judged. The first and the main one is Assadollah Assadi, Third Counselor at the Iranian embassy in Vienna. He was arrested on the 1st of July during his vacations in Germany and is suspected to have given 500 grammes of TATP explosives to his partners. The investigation concluded that Assadi was in fact a Iranian security intelligence officer working « under diplomatic cover », and that he has transported explosives by a commercial fly from Tehran to Vienna. German police officers were in possession of pictures showing Assadi giving the explosives in a box to a couple on the 28th of June in Luxembourg City|Luxembourg[3].
These two partners were a belgo-iranian couple living in Anvers. The woman, Nasimeh Naami[4], 36 years old was sentenced to eighteen years in jail and his spouse Amir Saadouni, 40 years old was sentenced to fifteen years of criminal detention[5]. They were stopped in extremis, on the 30th of June, by the begium police forces near Brussels with the five hundred grammes of TATP explosives and a detonator in their car. They were stopped right on time because the same day, next to Paris in Villepinte, Seine-Saint-Denis|Villepinte ( Seine-Saint-Denis) the large annual gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI ) took place; and according to the investigators, this precise event was the terrorists' target.
The last member of this terrorist group is Mehrdad Arefani, poet, ex-dissident of the regime and exile in Brussels who exchanged a lot with Assadi on phone and through an Austrian SIM card found in his possession.
Target of the attack
The original plan of the terrorist group was to hit this gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran[6] on the 30th of June 2018 during the manifestation and according to the NCRI this terrorist attack should have been « a bloodbath » considering the number of very powerful explosives involved. The NCRI is a coalition of opponents including the People's Mojahadeen, which is a historical organisation of opposition to Iranian government and who fight for the inspiration of a democratic and secular regime in Iran. The meeting brought together personalities such as Donald Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani or former French ministers Rama Yade and Bernard Kouchner. But far over this gathering of people, the main idea of terrorists here was to hit a big branch of the opposition of the regime outside of its territory. Indeed, the NCRI is the head of the european diaspora of the Iranian resistance of Tehran and targeting such a structure could have destabilised the resistance for a long time and drawn attention.
The French lawyer, Me William Bourdon, called this trial « historical », because it is the first time that a European country was judging an official figure of the Iranian government, in this case a diplomat and also because it was an incredible occasion to judge the entire mollah’s regime of Iran through one person.
Judgement and international reaction
This trial happened in a real bad time for Hassan Rouhani and his administration because the terrorist project was revealed two days after the arrests, the 2nd of July, day of the arrival of Rohani in Austria on an official visit to find European allies and help towards the United States sanctions over Iran. Despite those facts, the sentences happened with the new Joe Biden administration in the White House when Iran is trying to be more active in its relations with the US and also other global actors and this event only brings tensions within Iran and the European Union, particularly with France that remember the terrorist attack during the 1980’s commanded by Tehran. However, with those particular ambitions of Iran[7], we should ask if this terrorist attack was commanded directly by the government or by another, more extreme, branch of the regime.
The trial was called a « plot » by the government of Tehran through an official report, the Iranian government argues that « Once again, we vehemently deny these accusations, we condemn the arrest of this diplomat and we call for his immediate release ». On the 27 of November 2020 it was designated as « illegal » because it violated the « diplomatic immunity » of Assadi. In the same report, Tehran asks France to be realistic and understand that they are not capable of such acts and blame extremist armed groups, not allow to represent the Iranian ideas and thoughts, for those missed attacks.
References
- ↑ "Attentat déjoué de Villepinte: 20 ans de prison pour un diplomate iranien jugé en Belgique". RFI (in français). 2021-02-04. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
- ↑ "Attentat déjoué de Villepinte : le diplomate iranien condamné en Belgique a fait appel". Le Monde.fr (in français). 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
- ↑ "Attentat déjoué à Villepinte : « Un projet d'attaque conçu au nom de l'Iran, et sous son impulsion »". L'Obs (in français). Retrieved 2021-03-30.
- ↑ "Terrorisme. Attentat déjoué de Villepinte : un diplomate iranien condamné à vingt ans de prison". Courrier international (in français). 2021-02-04. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
- ↑ Alonso, Pierre. "Procès de l'attentat déjoué de Villepinte : peines maximales pour les accusés". Libération (in français). Retrieved 2021-03-30.
- ↑ à 17h06, Par A. L. Le 4 février 2021 (2021-02-04). "Attentat déjoué de Villepinte : pourquoi l'Iran conteste la condamnation de son diplomate". leparisien.fr (in français). Retrieved 2021-03-30.
- ↑ "Attentat déjoué de Villepinte : l'Iran sur le banc des accusés". www.arabnews.fr (in français). Retrieved 2021-03-30.
External links
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