LONDON: Australian construction engineer Robert Pether, 51, was reunited with his family in Ireland five years after his arrest in Iraq on charges of allegedly embezzling funds, according to his family and Australian and Irish officials.
Iraqi authorities arrested Pether and his colleague in Baghdad in April 2021 amid a contractual dispute involving their employer, CME Consulting, and the Central Bank of Iraq. He denied any wrongdoing and said he was forced to sign a pre-written confession in Arabic.
According to a UN report, the pair were held for nearly six months without charge and subjected to “abusive and coercive” interrogations, and eventually sentenced by an Iraqi court to five years in prison and a joint fine of $12 million.
Pether was released from prison in June 2025 due to deteriorating health. Still, he was denied exit from Iraq until an Iraqi court last week lifted the travel ban, citing a lack of evidence.
In 2015, he began overseeing the reconstruction of the Central Bank of Iraq’s Baghdad headquarters after nearly a decade working in the Middle East. In 2022, the International Chamber of Commerce’s Court of Arbitration ruled that the Central Bank of Iraq, not CME Consulting, was at fault in the contractual dispute and ordered it to pay the firm $13 million in compensation, according to the Independent newspaper.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed on Monday that Pether was on his way to reuniting with his family in Ireland. The Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee said she was delighted he was coming back home.
“This brings to an end an extraordinarily difficult period for Robert, his wife Desree and their children. I know they will be very happy to be reunited for the first time since 2021,” she said.
Pether’s wife said: “It’s been an absolute nightmare, especially these last few months. So many obstacles and plot twists right up to the last minute.”