The US has backed efforts to secure the release of a Dubai resident who has been detained in Iraq for more than four years over a contract dispute.
The office of the US special presidential envoy for hostage affairs made the call on social media X on Wednesday evening, urging Iraq to release Australian Robert Pether, who was jailed in 2021 and fined $12 million after a contract dispute between his employer and the authorities in Iraq.
The National reported this week that the Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong had called for Mr Pether to be returned home to his family. He has not been released despite having served his sentence.
"We stand with our Australian partners in calling for the release of Robert Pether, following the end of his custodial sentence," the post on X from Speha stated. "We hope to see him reunited with his family as soon as possible."
The intervention from the US has been welcomed by Mr Pether's wife. "We are delighted. We have been trying for this [US involvement] for some time," said Desree Pether, speaking to The National.
"Enough is enough. This [Robert's detention] is wrong and there are international court rulings stating that Robert is innocent and should never have been arrested in the first place."
International rulings
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.
Mr Pether and his Egyptian co-worker Khaled 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 been 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.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
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He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
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