An Iranian official on Thursday was convicted of masterminding a thwarted bomb attack against an exiled Iranian opposition group in France in 2018 and sentenced to 20 years in prison by a Belgian court that rejected his claim of diplomatic immunity.
PN MP Mario Galea was a keynote speaker at the event where the bomb was meant to be planted. Galea addressed the 'Free Iran - the Alternative' gathering which was held in Paris on 30 June 2018. Galea had been invited to represent the PN at the event for a number of consecutive years.
Mario Galea spoke with The Malta Independent. He said that he is satisfied that the perpetrators were caught. "We were there without knowing we were at risk. There were many people present for this conference, as many Iranians who live in Europe attended and children were put in peril."
Assadollah Assadi was a Vienna-based diplomat detained in Belgium. He refused to testify during his trial last year, invoking his diplomatic status. He also did not attend Thursday's hearing at the Antwerp courthouse.
While Assadi had contested all the charges against him, prosecutors had asked the court to condemn him to the maximum prison sentence of 20 years on charges of attempted terrorist murder and participation in the activities of a terrorist group.
Three other defendants also received jail sentences.
The Associated Press reports that, during the trial, lawyers for the plaintiffs and representatives of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq opposition group, or MEK, claimed without offering evidence that the diplomat set up the attack on direct orders from Iran's highest authorities. Tehran has denied having a hand in the plot.
During the court case, it was heard that Belgian police officers were tipped off by intelligence services on June 30, 2018, about a possible attack against the annual meeting of the MEK. The police had then stopped a couple traveling in a Mercedes car. They found 550 grams of the unstable TATP explosive and a detonator in their luggage.
The bomb could have caused a sizable explosion. Assadi was arrested a day later in Germany and transferred to Belgium.
A note from Belgium's intelligence and security agency seen by The Associated Press identified him as an officer of Iran's intelligence and security ministry who operated under cover at Iran's embassy in Vienna. Belgium's state security officers said he worked for the ministry's so-called Department 312, the directorate for internal security, which is on the European Union's list of organizations regarded as terrorist.
Prosecutors said he was the "operational commander" of the attack and accused him of recruiting the couple - Amir Saadouni and Nasimeh Naami - years before the attack, to obtain information about the opposition. Both were of Iranian heritage.
Saadouni was sentenced to 15 years in jail while Naami was handed a 18-year sentence.
According to the investigation, the explosives were carried by Assadi to Austria on a commercial flight from Iran and the bomb was later handed over to the couple.
The MEK, once an armed organization with a base in Iraq, is the most structured among exiled Iranian opposition groups, and is detested by Iranian authorities. It was removed from EU and U.S. terrorism lists several years ago after denouncing violence and getting western politicians to lobby on its behalf. The MEK supports a hard line on Iran and backs U.S. sanctions on the country.
Additional Reporting: Associated Press