The wife of a Dubai resident serving a prison sentence in Iraq over a contract dispute since 2021 said she does not know if she will ever see her husband again.
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.
Mr Pether's wife spoke to The National on Monday, the fourth anniversary of his arrest. The decision to subsequently jail both Mr Pether and Mr Radwan has been described as “arbitrary and in contravention of international law” by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
The families of both men were expecting them to be released in January, having served their sentences, however it emerged that Mr Pether was facing a new charge of money laundering, which could lead to a further 15 years in prison.
“I honestly don't know if we'll ever see him again,” said Mr Pether's wife Desree. “I don't believe he'll survive if he's sentenced to another 15 years. Robert is at absolute rock bottom, he's already told he won't survive [if sentenced again].”
The stress of the situation has also taken a toll on the rest of the Pether family.
“Our family is completely broken. The children are trying to survive and get on with their lives with what happened with their father,” said Ms Pether, who added that the family is having to pay the cost of getting her husband the legal support he needs.
“It's got to the point where I have to put my car up for sale so that we can eat and the kids can stay at college.”
Calls for release
A renewed plea for the release of Mr Pether was made on Monday by the Australian government.
“Australian citizen Robert Pether has now been in prison in Iraq for four years,” said Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on social media platform X.
“He has served the custodial sentence imposed on him by the Iraqi courts. It’s time for him to be returned to his family.”
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a report in 2022 describing Mr Pether’s imprisonment as “arbitrary and in contravention of international law”.
A ruling in 2023 by the International Chamber of Commerce's International Court of Arbitration said that the central bank was to blame for the contractual dispute.
Contract dispute results in prison sentence
Mr Pether and Mr Radwan were arrested in 2021 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 on the banks of the Tigris River.
The men were detained at the meeting and have remained in custody since, having each received a five-year jail sentence and ordered to pay $12 million by the 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 with the extremist group 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 pandemic.
Manchester City (0) v Liverpool (3)
Uefa Champions League, quarter-final, second leg
Where: Etihad Stadium
When: Tuesday, 10.45pm
Live on beIN Sports HD
Getting there
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.
The stay
Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.
Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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EMIRATES'S%20REVISED%20A350%20DEPLOYMENT%20SCHEDULE
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Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPurpl%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKarl%20Naim%2C%20Wissam%20Ghorra%2C%20Jean-Marie%20Khoueir%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHub71%20in%20Abu%20Dhabi%20and%20Beirut%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2021%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E12%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%242%20million%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
SECRET%20INVASION
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
Company%C2%A0profile
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Wednesday's results
Finland 3-0 Armenia
Faroes Islands 1-0 Malta
Sweden 1-1 Spain
Gibraltar 2-3 Georgia
Romania 1-1 Norway
Greece 2-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Liechtenstein 0-5 Italy
Switzerland 2-0 Rep of Ireland
Israel 3-1 Latvia
