Australian engineer Robert Pether has left Iraq after more than five years held in detention, following a lengthy and complex campaign to secure his release.
What we know:
- Pether, 51, and his Egyptian colleague, Khalid Zaghloul, were arrested in April 2021 in Baghdad following allegations that the company they worked for had defrauded the Iraqi government on a $1bn project to build the new headquarters of the Central Bank of Iraq (SBS).
- Pether has always maintained his innocence since he was arrested and sentenced to a five-year jail term and a $16m fine (ABC).
- Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed on Monday Pether had left Baghdad and was now free to reunite with his family in Ireland. “I expressed to him our relief that he had been released and my hope that he recovers,” she said (ABC).
- “It’s been an absolute nightmare, especially these last few months,” said Pether’s wife, Desree. “So many obstacles and plot twists right up to the last minute” (The Guardian).