Australian engineer remains trapped in Iraq a year after prison release
Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
News
Named sources
In the courts
- Robert Pether, an Australian engineer released from prison in Iraq a year ago, remains under a travel ban in Baghdad.
- Pether was arrested in 2021, accused of theft by the Central Bank of Iraq, and sentenced to five years, though the UN deemed his detention illegal.
- His family reports he is in poor health, isolated, and fears he will die in Iraq without medical attention, as he cannot leave the country or work.
An Australian engineer, Robert Pether, remains stranded in Baghdad under a travel ban a year after his release from an Iraqi prison, his family reports. Pether, who was living in Ireland before traveling to Iraq in 2016, was arrested in April 2021 while working on a major rebuild of the Central Bank of Iraq's headquarters.
He's in a secure compound but he's unable to leave the compound out of fear of being re-arrested. He can't leave the country, he can't work, he can't do anything so he's effectively in isolation once again, just without the confines of prison walls
The bank accused Pether and his colleague of stealing money from the project. After being held without charge for nearly six months and then subjected to a swift trial, both men received five-year jail sentences and hefty fines. The United Nations later declared their detention illegal and a 2022 UN report found the case contravened international law.
An international court ruled in 2023 that Iraq's central bank was at fault in the dispute, and the Iraqi government lost its appeals. Despite these rulings, Pether was not released but placed on conditional bail on June 5 last year, with a travel ban imposed. Hopes for his return to Ireland have not materialized.
Physically and mentally, he's not in a good way. He's very sick and he's been unable to get proper medical treatment, he was barely recovering from stage two starvation. He also has melanomas, and he's deeply concerned about that, but can't do anything about it.
His son, Flynn Pether, describes his father as being in isolation within a secure compound, unable to leave, work, or travel. He is reportedly in poor physical and mental health, suffering from the effects of near-starvation and unable to access treatment for melanomas. "He believes that he will die in Iraq if he doesn’t get medical attention soon," Flynn Pether stated, expressing deep concern for his father's well-being.
He believes that he will die in Iraq if he doesn’t get medical attention soon
DistantNews Editorial
Originally published by RTÉ News in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.
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