TRANSCRIPT
In 2021, Australian engineer Robert Pether and his Egyptian colleague Khaled Zaghloul were sentenced to five years in an Iraqi jail and fined $18 million on fraud charges.
Robert Pether, now 49, had travelled to Baghdad to resolve a contractual dispute over the construction of the new Central Bank of Iraq.
Instead, he says he and his colleague were kidnapped and detained.
Now, Mr Pether has penned a letter to Australia, detailing his arrest and urging the government to take action to free him.
"I was trapped when I was invited to Iraq for a meeting to resolve a contract dispute between my employer and our client, the Central Bank of Iraq. I went there to help with the rebuild. I was arrested at that meeting and imprisoned 3 years ago on the 7th of April."
Three years on, advocates and family members say they're increasingly fearful for his well-being.
Robert Pether had been living in Ireland with his wife and four children, working on and off in the Middle East for years prior to his arrest.
Originally from Sydney, he says he longs to see his family and the sights and sounds of his home in Australia.
"I am a husband and a father of four and I miss my family so much....I've missed so many milestones. Our oldest sons 30th, our other sons 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 8 when I was arrested and is now 11. I've missed three Christmases and 4 Easters, multiple birthdays, 3 wedding anniversaries, and so much more. I want to go home. I want to go back to Australia and hear the birds, swim at the beach, sit and watch the harbor while the ferries come and go and feel the sun on my skin."
After three long years, Robert's family say they have grave concerns for both his physical and mental health.
Suffering from trauma, bladder and kidney infections as well as depression, his family now also believes he has melanoma.
Robert's wife, Desree told SBS News that her husband's detainment has had a profound impact on the family.
"It's like an explosion has gone up in our lives and it has changed our paths. I can't see Robert ever doing what he was doing before again or having the capacity to do that, there's trauma , there is childhood trauma. There's a lot of issues, our children are suffering and we've had a lot of mountains to climb, emotionally as well. Lots of issues with depression, for several members of the family and it's just horrific."
The United Nations has found over 30 violations of international law in Mr Pether’s detention, including being held for months without charge and convicted with only fifteen minutes of deliberation.
Posting on social media platform X, former political prisoner Kylie Moore-Gilbert is also raising awareness about his case.
"Robert is effectively a hostage of this dispute. He was thrown in prison in proxy for his company and has languished there in a filthy prison cell ever since. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has determined that Robert is arbitrarily detained and is potentially also a victim of torture. On this day, three years after his wrongful arrest, we remember Robert Pether, and we call on the Australian government, the Irish government, and of course the Iraqi government to do everything they can to free this innocent man and not let his detention continue even one day longer."
Mr Pether was arrested by plain clothes officers, disappearing for days before Egyptian authorities found him and his colleague traumatised, delirious and crying.
Court documents show that Mr Pether's employer withdrew from the project after the Central Bank of Iraq failed to pay its invoices and authorities in Iraq allege that Mr Pether and his colleague were personally responsible for the contract breaches.
In his letter, he says he was coerced into signing a confession he couldn't read.
"Can you imagine being imprisoned in a foreign country where only one or two people speak English for 3 years? I was forced to sign a pre-written, incriminating confession in Arabic, a language I don't read or understand, after being locked in a cupboard, dehydrated and starved. There was no opportunity to defend myself."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he is doing everything he can to ensure Mr Pether makes a safe return.
"We had made enormous efforts including direct contact by myself as Prime Minister - with leaders there, with continued representation, more than 100 by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. My government will always act in the interest of Australian citizens, and with Mr Pether we are certainly doing whatever we can to secure his safe return."
Opposition Home Affairs Minister James Paterson says he hopes this is true.
"I don't know what this government has done to attempt to free Robert Pether from Iraq, but I am concerned about his welfare I have read about his case and that does seem like very difficult circumstances that he's caught up in and he is an Australian citizen, there is concern for his health. I hope the government is doing everything to ensure he can return safely to his family.”
Desree Pether says she appreciates the Prime Minister's statement but told SBS she's been told multiple times that there is more that can be done.
"All of the people that we have spoken to, who are Iraqi, and all of the people that our human rights lawyer Peter Griffin has spoken to and all of the people that other people have spoken to as well have all said that if there is direct representation from Prime Minister Albanese or Foreign Minister Wong going over there to Iraq and and speaking to them about Robert's situation, there will be a resolution found. So, we have called for that multiple times."
Signing off his letter, Robert Pether made a plea to the Australian public, urging Australians to put more pressure on the government to bring him home.
"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. So far, I just feel abandoned. I am sick, and worried I will not survive this ordeal much longer. I am asking all Australians to please write to Prime Minister Albanese and Foreign Minister Wong and ask them to do more. To do everything they possibly can to get me home to my family. Sincerely, Robert Pether"
