Australian man conditionally released from Iraqi prison after four years

An Australian man has been conditionally released from prison in Iraq after enduring four years of what the United Nations has called arbitrary detention.

Robert Pether, a mechanical engineer, was imprisoned in 2021 on fraud charges amid a contract dispute involving the consulting firm he worked for and the Central Bank of Iraq. The UN has deemed the 50-year-old's detention illegal, and an international court ruled that his employer bears no responsibility for the business disagreement.

Mr. Pether is described as "extremely sick" and in need of urgent medical care, according to his wife, Desree. Despite his release, he remains banned from leaving Iraq, where Australian authorities state he continues to face legal proceedings.

The family feels numb with shock, Mrs. Pether shared, as she has tirelessly campaigned for this moment. "It's the first time in over four years that we've taken one step in the right direction," she said. "There's a tiny glimmer of hope, but there's another mountain still to go over. He really needs to be home and in hospital."

In a statement, the Australian government called this a "positive development" after years of "persistent" advocacy. Foreign Minister Penny Wong acknowledged the personal toll Mr. Pether's detention has taken on him and his family, expressing hope that this news brings some relief after years of distress.

Simon Harris, the tánaiste of Ireland, where the Pether family resides, confirmed that Iraq's Foreign Minister had reached out to him regarding the release. "I welcomed this as a first step to his being allowed to return to his family in Roscommon," he stated, while expressing concern for Mr. Pether's health and any outstanding charges against him, which remain unclear.

Mr. Pether had worked in the Middle East for nearly a decade, taking on a significant project to rebuild the Central Bank of Iraq's headquarters in Baghdad in 2015. He was arrested alongside his colleague, Egyptian Khalid Radwan, after the bank accused them of embezzling funds from the project. Following six months of detention without charge and a rapid trial, both were sentenced to five years in prison and fined a joint total of $12 million.

A 2022 UN report found that the case violated international law, citing that Mr. Pether and Mr. Radwan had been subjected to "abusive and coercive" interrogations. Iraq's government has previously denied allegations of mistreatment.

In 2023, the International Chamber of Commerce's Court of Arbitration ruled that Iraq's Central Bank was at fault in the dispute with CME Consulting, ordering it to pay $13 million to the company.

Following his release on Thursday night, Mrs. Pether spoke with her husband. "He's on a bit of a high tonight, but I think he'll probably come crashing down tomorrow," she remarked, noting his deteriorating health. He has struggled to eat properly for months and there are concerns about a potential skin cancer relapse. "He's unrecognizable. If he got on a plane now and they were checking his passport, they would not know it was the same person."

Efforts are now focused on lifting Mr. Pether's travel ban. Meanwhile, the family has turned to crowdfunding to secure him private hospital care in Baghdad. "Enough is enough," Mrs. Pether declared. "He needs to come home."