Latest news with #Pether
Iraqi News
09-06-2025
- Business
- Iraqi News
Iraq frees Egyptian and Australian engineers over central bank contract issue
Baghdad – Iraq has released an Australian mechanical engineer and his Egyptian colleague who were detained for more than four years over a dispute with the central bank, authorities said Friday, though the two remain barred from leaving the country. Robert Pether and Khalid Radwan were working for an engineering company contracted to oversee the construction of the bank's new Baghdad headquarters, according to a United Nations report, when they were arrested in April 2021. A report from a working group for the UN Human Rights Council said the arrests stemmed from a contractual dispute over 'alleged failure to execute certain payments'. Both men were sentenced to five years in prison and fined $12 million, the working group said. A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that Pether, in his fifties, was released 'due to his poor health'. Australian media have previously reported that the family suspected Pether had developed lung cancer in prison and that he had undergone surgery for skin cancer. A second Iraqi official confirmed the release of Radwan, adding that he was not allowed to leave the country until a 'final decision' was made regarding his case. Australia's ABC broadcaster quoted the country's foreign minister, Penny Wong, as welcoming the release and saying the Australian government had raised the issue with Iraqi authorities more than 200 times. Simon Harris, foreign minister for Ireland, where Pether's family lives, posted on X: 'This evening, I have been informed of the release on bail of Robert Pether, whose imprisonment in Iraq has been a case of great concern. 'This is very welcome news in what has been a long and distressing saga for Robert's wife, three children and his wider family and friends.' Speaking to Irish national broadcaster RTE, Pether's wife, Desree Pether, said her husband was 'not well at all' and 'really needs to just come home so he can get the proper medical care he needs'. 'He's completely unrecognisable. It's a shock to the system to see how far he has declined,' she said.
Irish Independent
07-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Independent
‘It was a terrible shock to see how bad he is' – wife of Robert Pether freed from Iraqi jail pleads with Government to ‘get him home'
Desree Pether said her husband's release on bail is a 'step in the right direction', but that the family still has another mountain to climb, as he is now on a travel ban. 'We don't know the conditions of the travel ban yet because this all happened late last night and now it is Eid Mubarak, a religious holiday in Iraq,' she said yesterday. Ms Pether said the family will not learn what the ban entails or how long it will last until the end of the the Islamic festival on Tuesday evening. 'When he was to be released in January it was supposed to be an indefinite travel ban. I was going to be shouting that it needs to be cancelled anyway. 'But now having seen the state of him, I am on the war path,' Ms Pether said. She said that whoever put the travel ban in place does not know what her husband looks like nor the 'terribly dangerous condition he is in'. 'Nobody in any good conscience would continue on with this if they knew. He is emaciated, he looks like the terrible condition you would see a prisoner being released,' she said. 'He is grey, like he never was before, both his skin and his hair. His eyes are sunken and dark and he is skin and bone. 'It was a terrible shock to see how bad he is. We knew that he had been sick for the last four months, really sick, but we weren't expecting him to look like that,' she added. Ms Pether said it is not just because of the prison conditions, but that her husband has an illness relating to his digestion. ADVERTISEMENT 'He can't keep any food down beside rice, cereal and potato,' she said. 'He is extremely malnourished and very, very weak.' Mr Pether, who is originally from Australia but had been living with his wife and three children in Elphin, Co Roscommon, before travelling to Iraq, has been unable to receive medical attention since getting bail on Thursday. Mr Pether was employed by CME Consulting to create a new headquarters for the Central Bank of Iraq, having previously worked in the Middle East. Following a business dispute between their employer and the Central Bank, Mr Pether and his Egyptian colleague, Khaled Zaghloul, were invited to a meeting with the governor of the Central Bank, where they were arrested and later charged with fraud. Ms Pether said her husband should never have been there in the first place. She referenced three international court rulings and a UN report stating that he is innocent, a hostage, in arbitrary detention and was subjected to torture. The family have been in contact with him on video since his release on bail on Thursday, the first such time since his detention in April, 2021. 'It was nice to see him [on video], as much as it was a shock to talk to him face-to-face for the first time in four years,' Ms Pether said. Until this week, the only contact they had were phone calls lasting just a few minutes once or twice a week, at irregular times. 'You constantly carry the phone with you terrified to put it down because it would be the only chance for him to give up information so that we could try and fight for him from the outside,' Ms Pether said. 'I would be afraid to put it down to have a shower. I would try to have the shower really early or late at night.' The couple have three children, Flynn (22) Oscar (20) and Nala (12). 'They have grown up significantly since he was taken and they have missed so much with him. It was a really big shock for them to see their dad looking like that,' Ms Pether said. She credited the Irish Government, which she said has gone 'above and beyond', with the Australian government also providing consular assistance. Mr Pether, who is currently in Baghdad, spoke to Tánaiste Simon Harris following his release on Thursday night. Taoiseach Micheál Martin, speaking yesterday, described it as a 'very distressing' and 'upsetting' situation for the family, adding that he is worried about Mr Pether's well-being. 'The Government has been making continuing efforts for quite a long number of years now. I believe this is a good first step,' he said. 'He's an Australian citizen, which has been a complicating factor in all of this.' On the Irish Government's efforts to get her husband home, Ms Pether said: 'Just keep pushing. Keep helping. Please keep helping.'
Sky News AU
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Australian released from Iraqi prison after more than four years behind bars
The federal government is welcoming the release of an Australian engineer from a jail in Iraq. Robert Pether has been granted bail, emerging from a prison in Iraq after spending more than four years behind bars. Mr Pether was arrested in April 2021 alongside his Egyptian colleague, charged with deception, however, he has always maintained his innocence.
Iraq Business
06-06-2025
- Business
- Iraq Business
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)
Roya News
06-06-2025
- Business
- Roya News
Australian engineer freed from Iraqi prison after four years
After spending more than four years in an Iraqi prison, Australian engineer Robert Pether has been granted a conditional release — a development welcomed by his family and supporters. Pether, 50, was arrested in 2021 alongside a colleague over a contract dispute involving their employer, CME Consulting, and the Central Bank of Iraq. The pair were later convicted of fraud and sentenced to five years in prison and a USD 12 million fine. However, the UN has described Pether's detention as arbitrary and in violation of international law, while a 2022 ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce found the Iraqi central bank to be at fault in the business dispute. Pether's wife, Desree, who lives in Ireland with the couple's family, described the news as a moment of mixed emotions. 'It's the first time in over four years that we've taken one step in the right direction,' she told the BBC. 'There's a tiny glimmer of hope, but there's another mountain still to go over. He needs to be home and in hospital.' According to Desree, her husband is in poor health after years of incarceration. He is unable to keep food down and has reportedly not eaten properly in months. She also raised concerns that he may be suffering a relapse of skin cancer. 'He's unrecognisable. If he got on a plane now and they were checking his passport, they would not know it was the same person,' she said. Although freed from prison, Pether is still facing legal proceedings in Iraq and remains under a travel ban. The family has now launched a crowdfunding campaign in the hopes of securing private hospital treatment for him in Baghdad. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong described the release as a "positive development" following years of advocacy. "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, adding that Australia remains concerned about his health and the unresolved legal matters. Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris also welcomed the news, saying that Iraq's Foreign Minister had personally confirmed Pether's release in a phone call. 'I welcomed this as a first step to his being allowed to return to his family in Roscommon,' Harris said. Pether had been living in County Roscommon prior to his arrest and had spent nearly a decade working in the Middle East. He was leading a major reconstruction project for the Central Bank's Baghdad headquarters when he and his Egyptian colleague Khalid Radwan were detained.
