Ireland – Irish Mirror, May 05, 2025
Construction engineer Robert Pether was jailed in 2021 in a €20m contract row with the Central Bank of Iraq.
The devastated family of a man jailed as an “innocent hostage” in Iraq want him home to avoid a death sentence after he was diagnosed in prison with cancer.
The Irish Mirror reported last week that efforts to have Roscommon dad Robert Pether released have been urgently intensified. Tanaiste Simon Harris held top level talks with Iraq’s deputy prime minister Dr Fuad Hussein to lobby for Rob’s freedom.
Rob’s wife Desree today said from their home at Elphin, Co Roscommon, that the family received heartbreaking news from Baghdad. They are now selling their home, their car and their furniture in a bid to raise cash to “survive”.
Desree told us: “Robert has lung cancer. I’m so sick of having to tell my kids something terrible and shocking is happening to their dear father. I have told them. I told them we have to get him home so he can start a new fight. The children worry they’ll never see him again.”
Desree added: “Three international court rulings and a UN report say he shouldn’t have been arrested in the first place. He needs to be released. We need some compassion. His body is shutting down. He has so many things wrong with him at the moment.
