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Irish Independent
11 hours ago
- 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.'
Roya News
20 hours ago
- 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.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Robert Pether's wife hopes his release from Iraqi prison will end ‘living nightmare'
An Irish resident who has been in jail in Iraq for the last four years is 'unrecognisable', his wife, Desree Pether, has said. Robert Pether, originally from Australia, was released on bail on Thursday. He was arrested in April 2021 along with an Egyptian colleague Khalid Radwan on suspicion of theft. Mr Pether has been held in a cell with 20 other prisoners. The United Nations says it has been an arbitrary detention. The arrest arose out of a contract dispute. Mr Pether was an engineer working for the Dubai-based engineering firm CME Consulting on rebuilding Iraq's Central Bank headquarters in Baghdad. READ MORE His wife said Mr Pether is 'very sick at the moment' and she wants to bring him back to Ireland. The couple bought a former convent in Elphin, Co Roscommon, five years ago with a view to turning into a herbal therapy centre. She is an Irish citizen through her Dublin-born father. Last night she saw him for the first time in four years on video and it was a 'shock'. 'I was very happy to see him – but also to see the state of him, he was completely unrecognisable'. [ Robert Pether released on bail after four years in Iraqi jail Opens in new window ] 'It's a shock to the system to see how he has declined. He's not well at all. He needs to come home to get the proper medical care he needs.' Ms Pether said it has been a 'a living nightmare' to try and get her husband out from jail. She wants to get a travel ban on Mr Pether lifted so he can return to Ireland. 'I'm hoping there is light at the end of the tunnel. I'm hoping we can get through this. It's been beyond frustrating. It's not over. It's one small step in the right direction,' she told the RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland programme. He has lost a lot of weight as he has been unable to eat properly since being incarcerated, she said. The couple have three children, Flynn, Oscar and daughter Nala. Tánaiste and Minster for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris welcomed Mr Pether's release. Robert Pether with his wife, Desree, who lives in Elphin with their children He was told yesterday evening by Iraq's foreign minister Fuad Hussein that Mr Pether was being released unconditionally. '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,' the Tánaiste said.
The Independent
a day ago
- Business
- The Independent
Australian engineer freed on bail after four years in Iraqi prison
An Australian engineer has been granted conditional release after spending more than four years in an Iraqi prison in what the UN has described as arbitrary detention. Robert Pether, 50, was arrested in Baghdad in April 2021 along with his colleague, Egyptian national Khalid Radwan, amid a contractual dispute between their employer CME Consulting and the Central Bank of Iraq. The two men had been overseeing the multi-million-dollar reconstruction of the bank's Baghdad headquarters, a project Pether had been involved with since 2015. Following their arrest, both men were held for nearly six months without charge, subjected to what the UN described as 'abusive and coercive' interrogations, and ultimately sentenced to five years in prison and a joint fine of $12m (£8.8m). Pether, who has consistently maintained his innocence, said he was forced to sign a pre-written confession in Arabic. In 2022, a UN working group concluded that the detention of the pair violated international law and due process. The following year, the International Chamber of Commerce's Court of Arbitration ruled that the Central Bank of Iraq, not CME Consulting, was at fault in the contractual disagreement and ordered it to pay $13m (£9.5m) in compensation to the firm. Although Pether has now been granted bail, he is still prohibited from leaving Iraq and will face ongoing legal proceedings. His family and supporters are urging the authorities to lift the travel ban so he can receive urgent medical treatment. His wife, Desree Pether, told the BBC that he is 'extremely sick' and has been unable to eat properly for months, raising fears of a possible recurrence of skin cancer. 'He's unrecognisable,' Ms Pether said. 'If he got on a plane now and they were checking his passport, they would not know it was the same person.' She added that the family had begun crowdfunding to afford private hospital care for him in Baghdad. 'Enough is enough. He needs to come home.' In a statement, Australia's foreign minister, Senator Penny Wong, welcomed the development, calling it 'a positive step' following years of 'persistent advocacy'. She noted the personal toll the detention has taken on Pether and his family, adding that she hoped 'this news brings a measure of relief after years of distress', reported 9 News. Senator Wong also thanked Australian officials, including the government's special envoy to Iraq, for their efforts, noting that Pether's case had been raised with Iraqi authorities more than 200 times. Ireland 's deputy prime minister, Tánaiste Simon Harris, also acknowledged the development, revealing that Iraq's foreign minister Fuad Hussein had called him directly to confirm Pether's release. The Pether family had been living in Roscommon, Ireland, before the arrest. 'I welcomed this as a first step to his being allowed to return to his family in Roscommon,' said Mr Harris. "I also spoke this evening with Robert's wife, Desree Pether, about this positive development." Speaking after a phone call with her husband on Thursday night, Ms Pether said he was briefly uplifted by the release but warned he was likely to crash emotionally soon after. 'There's a tiny glimmer of hope,' she said. 'But there's another mountain still to go over.' In a letter written from prison last year, Pether described the pain of missing milestones with his wife and five children during his detention. "I've missed so many milestones," he wrote. "Our oldest son's 30th, our other son's 18th and soon 21st and our youngest son's 16th and 18th. Our youngest two boys have finished school and are now young men. Our daughter was eight when I was arrested and is now 11. "I've missed three Christmases and four Easters, multiple birthdays, three wedding anniversaries, and so much more.' He wrote feeling 'abandoned' by the Anthony Albanese government. 'I have pleaded for three years for Prime Minister Albanese and Foreign Minister Wong to do everything they can to help me and get me home,' he said. 'So far, I just feel abandoned. I am sick, and worried I will not survive this ordeal much longer. 'I want to go home,' he wrote. 'I want to go back to Australia and hear the birds, swim at the beach, sit and watch the harbour while the ferries come and go and feel the sun on my skin.'
The Guardian
a day ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Australian Robert Pether released from Iraqi prison four years after being arbitrarily detained
Australian engineer Robert Pether has been released from his Iraq jail cell more than four years after he was arbitrarily detained. Pether was working on a project to help build the new headquarters for the Central Bank of Iraq when he was detained in Baghdad in April 2021. He had flown in for a meeting with bank officials to resolve a dispute they were having with his engineering firm, CME Consulting, over the project. Pether was later sentenced and fined over allegations that his firm spent money that should have gone to an architect and a subcontractor. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email In a report in March 2022, the United Nations working group on arbitrary detention found Pether had been arbitrarily detained in breach of international law. It also heard allegations that Pether and his Egyptian colleague's trials were compromised and that he had been subjected to torture-like practices. The body called for their immediate and unconditional release. After more than four years in prison, Pether has now been released. Pether's wife, Desree, welcomed the development and said her family were 'grateful to everyone who contributed to this happening'. But she also warned her husband remains trapped in Iraq due to a travel ban, and urgently needs medical care. 'He's unrecognisable,' she told Guardian Australia. 'So frail and weak. He needs urgent medical care and that's not possible in Iraq.' The foreign minister, Penny Wong, said the Australian government had raised the case with Iraqi authorities more than 200 times. 'I want to thank Australian officials for their tireless work on Mr Pether's case, including Australia's special envoy who travelled to Iraq in recent weeks to negotiate for this outcome,' she said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The case has prompted prime ministerial intervention, with Anthony Albanese raising Pether's detention with then Iraqi prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in 2022. In 2022, the Guardian obtained an emotional letter from Pether to his family, penned from behind bars. The letter warned his family that his prognosis was 'bleak' and that he was facing a potential 'death sentence'. Pether also wrote of his daily torment about how he should break it to his children that he might not be coming home. 'How do you tell a little girl who loves unicorns and cats that her daddy will not be coming home? How do you tell your children that you are proud of them, but will not be sharing the accolades (and pitfalls) of their lives with them?,' Pether wrote. 'And toughest of all, how do you tell your wife, who is very much the other half of you, that you will not be keeping the promise you made to grow old together?'
