Australian engineers Robert Pether and his Egyptian colleague Khalid Radwan were freed from Iraqi detention after five years in custody, but their lawyers criticised the timing of a statement from Foreign Minister Penny Wong announcing Pether’s departure. The statement was released while Pether was still transiting through Turkey, a period the lawyers said was still dangerous for him.
Pether was arrested in April 2021 during a business dispute involving his firm, CME Consulting, which was building a headquarters for the Iraqi central bank. He spent four years in jail before being released in 2025 due to deteriorating health. An Iraqi court lifted the travel ban last week after dismissing the case, citing a lack of evidence. Pether’s family said the arrest and detention had been a living nightmare, describing his health decline and the uncertainty of his future.
The release followed months of negotiations involving officials from Ireland, Australia, Egypt and Iraq, and the pro‑bono team of Slaney Advisors. Pether boarded a flight to Ireland via Turkey on Monday, a move that the managing director of Slaney, Peter Griffin, described as “shocking” because the announcement came at a time that could have exposed Pether to premature negative media coverage.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, in a March 2022 report, found Pether had been arbitrarily detained and that his trial violated international law, citing torture, forced confessions and a lack of due process. Pether’s wife, Desree, expressed relief at the outcome, while the Australian government said it had raised the case with Iraqi authorities more than 200 times. The government declined to respond to the criticism of the timing of Wong’s statement.
