Australian engineer Robert Pether has left Iraq after five years in the country, including a four-year stint in jail, but his advisers have criticised the timing of a statement from Foreign Minister Penny Wong announcing his departure.
Wong's office issued a statement on Monday saying Pether had been allowed to leave Iraq. His family welcomed the news, saying they had been "living in hell" since Pether was arrested without charge in April 2021 in connection with a business dispute between his firm, which was building a new headquarters for the central bank, and the Iraqi government.
Concerns over timing of announcement
Pether's advisers expressed concern that Wong's statement was issued at a sensitive period while the engineer was still transiting through Turkey. Peter Griffin, managing director of Slaney Advisors, a consultancy specialising in international arbitration that worked pro bono for Pether, said he was shocked by the timing.
"We were aware for some time that minister Wong was keen to be the first to break this fantastic news," Griffin said. "But Robert's safety was paramount." Wong's office declined to respond to the criticism.
Release and travel to Ireland
Pether was released from jail last year due to deteriorating health but was banned from leaving the country until last week, when an Iraqi court dismissed proceedings against him and lifted the travel ban, citing a lack of evidence. He was allowed to board a flight on Monday to Ireland, via Turkey, after negotiations involving officials in Ireland, Australia, Egypt and Iraq, and Pether's international pro bono team at Slaney Advisors.
Wong said: "The Australian government welcomes the Iraqi government's decision to allow Mr Robert Pether to leave Iraq today. I spoke to Mr Pether shortly before his departure from Baghdad and am pleased he is now free to move forward with his life and be reunited with his family."
Family's relief and ordeal
Pether's wife, Desree, said she was "hugely relieved". "It's been an absolute nightmare, especially these last few months," she said. "So many obstacles and plot twists right up to the last minute."
Pether and his Egyptian colleague Khalid Radwan were detained in Baghdad in 2021 after flying in for a meeting with bank officials to resolve a dispute with his engineering firm, CME Consulting. Pether was later sentenced and fined over allegations that his firm spent money that should have gone to an architect and a subcontractor.
In a report in March 2022, the UN working group on arbitrary detention found Pether had been arbitrarily detained in breach of international law. The UN body also found the arrest constituted an "enforced disappearance" and may have involved forms of torture, noting complaints that Pether "was exposed to extreme cold, threats of death, humiliation and various forms of psychological abuse".
"Mr Pether was detained in a [2x2 metre] cell with the lights permanently on," the working group said. "He was reportedly blindfolded, interrogated, screamed at, threatened, insulted and shown torture rooms."
In 2022, the Guardian obtained a letter from Pether to his family, penned from behind bars, in which he warned his prognosis was "bleak" and he was facing a potential "death sentence". He wrote: "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?"
The Australian government said it had raised the case with Iraqi authorities more than 200 times. Following her husband's release from jail in 2025, Desree said from Ireland she was "grateful to everyone who contributed to this happening". The UN working group's 2022 report aired allegations that Pether's evidence was mistranslated to indicate guilt and said that even during the trial "Pether and Radwan did not have clarity around their charges". Charges were dropped during the hearing and replaced with others.
