Washington D.C. – ABC News, January 15, 2025
The family of an Australian man who has languished in a Baghdad jail since 2021 fear he may die behind bars, as he faces the prospect of fresh charges from Iraqi authorities.
Robert Pether was jailed and fined millions of dollars on what his wife and legal team have described as trumped-up fraud charges, relating to his time working as a contractor in Iraq.
The engineer was employed on the construction of the landmark new Central Bank of Iraq headquarters, on the banks of the Tigris River.
The project was bogged down in massive budget blowouts and delays, which have led to a series of disputes by the bank’s management and builders.
