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Hundreds of demonstrators on Sunday urged Belgium to push harder to secure the release of aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, held by Iran in a case decried as "hostage diplomacy".The crowd, gathered in freezing temperatures in central Brussels, chanted "Free Olivier" and sang Happy Birthday to mark Vandecasteele's 42nd birthday this week."The aim is to show the government that we cannot leave an innocent person there," his sister Nathalie told AFP.

Supporters fear for Belgian aid worker’s safety

Distraught family of a Belgian national held in Iran appealed to their government on Tuesday to do its utmost to get him freed after he was sentenced to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes on charges including spying that Brussels has denounced as fake. The sentence imposed on aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, reported by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, was more severe than the 28-year term Belgium had reported in December.

Olivier Vandecasteele arrested on charges denounced as fake while on a visit to Iran in February last year

Distraught family of a Belgian national held in Iran appealed to their government on Tuesday to do its utmost to get him freed after he was sentenced to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes on charges including spying that Brussels has denounced as fake. The sentence imposed on aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, reported by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, was more severe than the 28-year term Belgium had reported in December.