The law holds that it is better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer. William Blackstone
I was planning a completely different post for today but then on Friday last week they announced super good news. Olivier Vandecasteele was released after 455 days of detention in an Iranian prison on alleged charges of espionage and undermining national security. He was innocent.
Who is Olivier Vandecasteele?
He is a Belgian humanitarian aid worker, who used to serve international NGOs in Iran for over six years.
Why Olivier was arrested?
He was arrested as a consequence of the often-used Iranian tactic of imprisoning foreigners as hostages to exchange them with certain Iranians jailed in Western countries. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison, 74 lashes as well as $1 million fine. He spent 455 days in prison under unbearable conditions. He lost 25 kilos.
This was the case for Olivier. An Iranian diplomat has been convicted of a plot to bomb a big French rally held by an exiled opposition group in 2018. He worked at the Iranian embassy in Vienna, was given a 20-year jail term by the court of Antwerp in Belgium. It was the first time an Iranian official had faced such charges in the EU since the 1979 Iranian revolution.
How was it possible to free Olivier?
Belgium and Iran carried out a prisoner swap, even though it was a controversial decision, as it creates a precedent and no State wants to come to terms with any states that don’t enforce the rule of law.
The journalist on the news commented that it was used the so called Blackstone ratio. In criminal law, Blackstone’s ratio (also known as Blackstone’s formulation) is the idea that it is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer, as expressed by the English jurist William Blackstone in his Commentaries on the Laws of England, published in the 1760s. It has become part of Anglo-American jurisprudence.
This ratio or formulation made me think to its implications, actually it’s a real dilemma.
A survey carried out by the Cato Institute shows that 60% of Americans think it’s worse to imprison innocent people than let guilty people go free. I also agree on that, it’s a moral principle that everyone who is innocent shall be free.
Now there is one innocent free, Olivier, but another person who was in jail for plotting a terror attack is also free. I guess that there will be many debates about it in the coming days and weeks, after the enthusiasm for his return will be forgotten.
But I won’t forget it. Olivier is finally back to Belgium with his family, friends, and colleagues. And I am happy about it, when I heard about his liberation on the news I broke out in tears.
It’s a relief for all of us who signed a petition for his liberation, who went on the streets to protest against the Belgian government being slow in the negotiations, and who showed posters on the house windows. Olivier should never have been detained. Finally, a joint action of solidarity made his coming back home possible.
Do you believe that this Blackstone ratio is a fair principle of law?
