By John Lee. Ireland's Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Harris, has confirmed the release on bail of Robert Pether, an Australian engineer resident in Ireland, who has been imprisoned in Iraq since 2021. The announcement comes following a phone call from Iraq's Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein, who personally informed the […]
By John Lee. The United States has said it supports the release of an Australian businessman who has been in prison in Iraq for more than four years. In a statement on X, the US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs said: "We stand with our Australian partners in calling for the release of Robert […]
By John Lee. A court in the Netherlands has recognized and granted the enforcement of an arbitration award against the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI). The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)'s International Court of Arbitration in Paris granted the award in favour of Abu Dhabi-based Cardno ME (CME) on February 26, 2023. It required the […]
By John Lee. Australian engineer Robert Pether and his Egyptian colleague Khalid Radwan have now spent more than three years in prison in Iraq. The pair were detained in April 2021 by authorities in Baghdad in relation to a dispute over the construction of the new Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) headquarters in Baghdad. They […]
By John Lee. Australian engineer Robert Pether and his Egyptian colleague Khalid Radwan have now spent 1,000 days in prison in Iraq. The pair were detained in April 2021 by authorities in Baghdad in relation to a dispute over the construction of the new Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) headquarters in Baghdad. They have been […]
By John Lee. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has reportedly been ordered to pay $13 million to Abu Dhabi-based Cardno ME (CME), relating to a dispute over the construction of its new headquarters in Baghdad. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)'s International Court of Arbitration is said to have made the ruling in February, […]
By John Lee. The Guardian has claimed that a new cache of documents undermines key evidence used to jail a pair of foreign businessmen in Baghdad. Australian engineer Robert Pether and his Egyptian colleague Khalid Radwan have been detained since April 2021. They have been sentenced to five years in prison and jointly fined $12 […]
By Jessica Bahr for SBS News. Any opinions expressed are those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Robert was jailed in Iraq two years ago. His Australian family say they're at 'breaking point' Friday marked two years since Australian engineer Robert Pether was arbitrarily detained in Iraq, […]
By John Lee. The Australian government has reportedly said it holds "serious concerns" for the welfare of Australian engineer Robert Pether. Pether and his Egyptian colleague Khalid Radwan have been detained since April 2021. They have been sentenced to five years in prison and jointly fined $12 million on charges of fraud. Their families claim […]
By John Lee. High-level diplomatic efforts have reportedly been stepped up in the hope of securing the release two foreign businessmen held in an Iraqi jail. Australian citizen Robert Pether and his Egyptian colleague Khalid Radwan have been detained since April 2021. They have been sentenced to five years in prison and jointly fined $12 […]
By John Lee. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has concluded that Australian engineer Robert Pether and Egyptian engineer Khalid Radwan were "arbitrarily detained on discriminatory grounds", and demanded their immediate release. The pair have been detained in Iraq since April 2021, following a contract dispute relating to the construction of the new Central […]
