‘Skin and bone’: Jailed Australian’s health deteriorating in Iraqi prison

A woman whose husband has spent the past four years arbitrarily detained in Iraq says the Australian man’s health is deteriorating quickly as he faces an uncertain future behind bars.

Engineer Robert Pether and a colleague of his were arrested in Baghdad on April 7, 2021, by 12 police officers who stormed a meeting the men were having with the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, following a contractual dispute between the men’s employer and the bank.

Pether’s UK-based human rights lawyer Peter Griffin told Crikey his client is in essence being “held hostage” as a pawn in the dispute between the bank and the company Pether worked for, United Arab Emirates-based CME Consulting. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has said Pether and his colleague, Egyptian engineer Khalid Radwan, were arbitrarily detained and that their right to a fair trial and due process had been violated.

“We have our backs to the wall,” Robert’s wife Desree Pether told Crikey. “Robert has been sick off and on since his arrest, he’s lost teeth, had kidney stones, had raging infections, and now has an enlarged prostate, nodules on his lungs, gallstones and excruciating lung pain.

“He’s lost an alarming amount of weight to the point where he said he is skin and bone. He told me he looks like one of those horrendous old prisoner of war photos. He said he looks like he has two black eyes and his skin is grey.”

Desree Pether also said the family was facing financial ruin. 

“I’ve been trying to sell my car so we can survive until our house sells. Also selling off furniture. We have paid out over $140,000 in legal fees and his employer has completely abandoned us almost a year ago. We are drowning in bills,” she said. 

Griffin said Pether was suffering severe health issues and that he’d been denied adequate care despite requiring hospitalisation several times in the past seven days. 

“He’s being brought to the hospital, back to the prison, and to the hospital again — he is being given over the counter painkiller equivalent of Panadol, which is quite ludicrous,” Griffin told Crikey. 

“He is pallid, he’s emaciated, he’s grey. He looks like somebody who has been starved.” 

The federal government says it has made representations to Iraqi authorities on Pether’s behalf more than 200 times, and that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong have both personally raised the case with Iraq.

But Pether’s wife said it wasn’t enough. 

“So much more should have been done a long time ago. So many opportunities missed to advocate for Robert,” she said. “Australia needs to set up a dedicated department and fight for Australian citizens wrongfully detained overseas. Work with partners. Use sanctions! Send a clear message it’s not acceptable. Be a world leader in stamping out hostage diplomacy.”

When Crikey asked Wong what she plans to do to get Pether out if she keeps her job after the May 3 election, her office sent comments from a spokesperson instead. 

“We want to acknowledge the personal toll Mr Pether’s detention continues to take on him and his family. He has served the custodial sentence imposed on him by the Iraqi courts. It’s time for him to be returned to his family,” the spokesperson said.

“The Australian government will continue to advocate for Mr Pether’s release, interests and well-being, and provide consular support to him and his family.”

Wong’s Coalition shadow, David Coleman, said he and his colleagues were “extremely concerned” for Pether. 

“We have received briefings from the government on Mr Pether’s situation and offered bipartisan support for efforts to secure his release,” Coleman told Crikey. “The former shadow minister met with Mrs Pether. We have regularly raised Mr Pether’s situation in Senate estimates, most recently in February this year.”

On Wednesday, Coleman announced the Coalition would create a new high-level position to advocate for Australians jailed overseas, if elected to government. The proposed special envoy for hostage affairs would report directly to the foreign minister, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Asked if Labor would support the creation of such a position if reelected, a spokesperson for Wong said: “The Albanese government stands up for all Australians — at home and overseas.  Our mature, deliberate, consistent and calibrated approach has achieved results. We were proud to see Cheng Lei, Sean Turnell, Chau Van Kham and Dr Ken Elliott return home to their families.

“We will continue to take the most effective approach, drawing on the best advice to ensure we’re providing the best support to Australians that we can and working in the best interests of Australia and Australians detained overseas.”

Should the government be doing more to help Australians imprisoned overseas?

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