Harris to discuss Pether case with Iraqi counterpart | Breaking News & Latest Ireland Updates

Harris to discuss Pether case with Iraqi counterpart — Midlands Correspondent Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris will today hold talks with his counterpart from Iraq to press the case o...

Midlands Correspondent

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris will today hold talks with his counterpart from Iraq to press the case of Roscommon resident Robert Pether, who has been detained in Iraq for four years.

Mr Harris sought the meeting with Dr Fuad Hussein, the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, in order to raise what the United Nations has described as the "arbitrary detention" of Mr Pether.

The Australian national, who had been living in Elphin Co Roscommon with his family, was arrested in April 2021 and later jailed on fraud charges.

The Tánaiste has been in touch with his family who are campaigning for his release.

"I look forward to discussing with my counterpart from Iraq, the case of Robert Pether, whose detention in an Iraqi prison is a cause of considerable concern and distress for his family," Mr Harris said.

"It is vital that that Mr Pether's situation is examined thoroughly to ensure due process prevails," he added.

A mechanical engineer, Mr Pether had worked in the Middle East for almost a decade before taking on a huge rebuild of Iraq's Central Bank headquarters in Baghdad in 2015.

Towards the end of the project, a dispute arose between the bank and the company Mr Pether worked for, which landed Mr Pether and his Egyptian engineer colleague Khalid Radwan in prison, after the bank accused the men of stealing money from the project.

Lawyers for the men say they are "hostages in a contract dispute".

Mr Pether's family had expected Mr Pether to be released in January this year, however fresh charges of money laundering were made against him.

His family say the charges are a twisted interpretation of the law.