Robert Pether conditionally released in Iraq after four years in jail
A Dubai resident has been conditionally released from prison in Iraq after his family campaigned for four years to secure his freedom.
Robert Pether, from Australia, along with his Egyptian co-worker Khaled Radwan, who both resided in Dubai at the time, were jailed in August 2021 and fined $12 million after a contract dispute between his employer and authorities in Iraq.
Despite his release, Mr Pether is still barred from leaving Iraq and Australian authorities say he continues to face legal proceedings. However, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the development was a 'positive development'.
"I know the personal toll Mr Pether's detention has taken on him and his family and hope this news brings a measure of relief after years of distress," she said in a statement.
Simon Harris, Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister, said in a statement that Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein had contacted him to confirm the release of Mr Pether, whose family currently live in Ireland.
"I welcomed this as a first step to his being allowed to return to his family in Roscommon," Mr Harris said. But there are concerns about Mr Pether's health and any outstanding charges against him, he added.
Contract dispute results in jail
Mr Pether and Mr Radwan were arrested when they travelled to Iraq for what they thought was a routine business meeting. Employed as an engineer in Dubai for CME, Mr Pether was contracted to work on the central bank's headquarters near the Tigris River.
The men were detained at the meeting. They each received a five-year jail sentence and were ordered to pay $12 million by an Iraqi court. The dispute was over a $33 million contract awarded to CME in 2015.
The project was put on hold a year later, with plummeting oil prices and Iraq's war against ISIS put forward as the main reasons. Work resumed in 2018, with CME working for 39 of the 48 months as set out in the contract.
Payment was received for 32 of those months before being withheld. CME was asked by the central bank to extend the contract by three months to make up for work that was suspended due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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