Businessmen Arbitrarily Detained in Iraq Released
By John Lee.
Ireland's Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Harris, has confirmed the release on bail of Robert Pether, an Australian engineer resident in Ireland, who has been imprisoned in Iraq since 2021.
The announcement comes following a phone call from Iraq's Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein, who personally informed the Tánaiste of the development.
Pether, who remains in Iraq for now, has been at the centre of an ongoing diplomatic effort by the Irish government. Minister Harris described the release as " very welcome news " in what has been a " long and distressing saga " for Pether's wife and family.
The Tánaiste also thanked Irish diplomatic staff in the region for their continued support and advocacy. He reiterated concerns about Pether's health and outstanding legal charges but expressed hope for a positive resolution and Pether's eventual return to his home in Roscommon.
Pether and his Egyptian colleague, Khalid Radwan, were detained in April 2021 in relation to a dispute over the construction of the new Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) headquarters in Baghdad.
They have been sentenced to five years in prison and jointly fined $12 million on charges of fraud. Their families claim they were tricked into travelling to Iraq to attempt to resolve the dispute.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that they were " arbitrarily detained on discriminatory grounds ", and referred the case to the Special Rapporteur on torture.
In February 2023, the International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC) Court of Arbitration ruled that the CBI was at fault in the dispute, and ordered it to pay $13m to Abu Dhabi-based Cardno ME (CME).
The statement from the Irish Tánaiste did not refer to Radwan, but AFP news agency cites an Iraqi official as confirming his release.
(Sources: Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; AFP)
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