The wife of a Dubai resident detained in Iraq since his arrest over a contract dispute five years ago today said her husband was likely to die unless he was allowed to leave the country.
Robert Pether, 50, was released from prison in Baghdad in June 2025. However, he has remained in Iraq and cannot leave while the possibility of further legal action against him remains.
Mr Pether, from Australia, and his Egyptian co-worker Khaled Radwan, who both lived in Dubai at the time, were convicted and jailed in August 2021 and fined $12 million after a contract dispute between his employer and authorities in Iraq.
They were released from prison last year. In 2025, the office of the US special presidential envoy for hostage affairs pushed for his release. This followed a call from Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong for Mr Pether to be allowed to return home to his family.
“If nothing changes he will die. He still has serious untreated health issues and he is extremely unwell mentally and physically,” said Desree Pether, who feared for her husband's future if threats of further prosecution on new charges were carried out. “It [a renewed prosecution] would achieve a life sentence and the end of Robert's life.”
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a report in 2022 describing Mr Pether’s imprisonment as “arbitrary and in contravention of international law”.
The wife of Mr Radwan, Amany Zarrouk, also shared her concern for her husband's safety. He also remains in Iraq. “We are afraid for his life. He is 60 and his health condition is worsening,” Ms Zarrouk said.
Mr Radwan faces financial challenges but his family cannot send money to him in Iraq, she added. “Their financial situation is very bad with the daily expenses and we can’t wire them money. We don’t know when this situation will change,” she said.
“He can walk freely from his residence but, with the current tension in the country, it's very worrying. I want my husband back to his home and family.”
“I appeal to the Egyptian government and President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to intervene and help my husband to return,” she added.
A ruling in 2023 by the International Chamber of Commerce's International Court of Arbitration said the central bank was to blame for the contractual dispute. The Australian government has repeated calls for Mr Pether to be allowed to leave Iraq to be with his family for the first time since 2021.
“The Australian government has provided extensive consular assistance to Mr Pether and his family since he was first detained and will continue to advocate for his well-being and for him to depart Iraq to be reunited with his family,” said a representative for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. “For privacy reasons we are unable to provide further comment.”
Contract dispute results in jail
Mr Pether and Mr Radwan were arrested when they travelled to Iraq for what they thought was a routine business meeting. Employed as an engineer in Dubai for CME, Mr Pether was contracted to work on the central bank's headquarters near the Tigris River.
The men were detained at the meeting. They each received a five-year jail sentence and were ordered to pay $12 million by an Iraqi court. The dispute was over a $33 million contract awarded to CME in 2015.
The project was put on hold a year later, with plummeting oil prices and Iraq’s war against ISIS put forward as the main reasons. Work resumed in 2018, with CME working for 39 of the 48 months as set out in the contract.
Payment was received for 32 of those months before being withheld. CME was asked by the central bank to extend the contract by three months to make up for work suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.
