New hope for families of Dubai residents jailed in Iraq

Tribunal ruling strengthens case for release of Australian Robert Pether and Egyptian Khaled Radwan, lawyer says

Robert Pether, 46, has been detained in Baghdad since 2021. Photos: Supplied by Desree Pether

Australian Robert Pether pictured with his three children.

Robert Pether was detained in Baghdad and his family is desperate to understand why.

The Central Bank of Iraq building on the shores of the Tigris River in Baghdad was one of the projects Robert Pether was working on in Iraq.

Pictures of Robert Pether before and during his detention in Baghdad.

A ruling by an international body has strengthened the case for the release of two Dubai residents from jail in Iraq, a lawyer assisting their families said.

Australian Robert Pether and Egyptian Khaled Radwan have spent more than two years in prison over a contract dispute between their employers, engineering company CME Consulting, and the Central Bank of Iraq.

In 2021, they were sentenced to five years in prison by a Baghdad court and ordered to pay $12 million.

However, a ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce's International Court of Arbitration has found that the central bank was to blame for the contractual dispute and ordered it to pay $13 million, which includes legal costs, to the engineering company.

“This completely undercuts the basis for their incarceration,” said Peter Griffin, a UK human rights lawyer who has assisted the families.

The ruling is the second by an international body. Last year, a UN working body found the decision to imprison the men to be “arbitrary and in contravention of international law”.

“When you combine the UN decision with this arbitration award, there’s no longer any arguable basis for them to remain in prison,” Mr Griffin said.

“This is the second independent vindication of Robert and Khaled.”

Civil case

The court of arbitration’s ruling, which was made in February, has been welcomed by Mr Pether’s wife, Desree, who has been campaigning for his release.

“It’s very positive that an international tribunal has found them [Central Bank of Iraq] to be in breach of contract. This is what we’ve been saying all along,” she said.

“However, there’s now a civil case being brought against Robert and Khaled as well. That is motoring on despite this ruling.”

She said the civil case against her husband and his colleague calls for them to pay $50 million.

Dubai engineer Khaled Radwan is imprisoned in Iraq over a contract dispute. Photo: Supplied

After the ICC's ruling, CME issued a statement saying the costs incurred by CBI could have been avoided.

"Mr Pether and Mr Radwan had only ever exemplified utter professionalism and respect for CBI, Iraq and its people," said a company spokesperson.

"Often dealing with challenging situations on the ground, their behaviour has always been of the highest standard."

It was regrettable their lives, and those of their families, had been forever changed, through no fault of their own, the spokesperson said.

The National contacted CBI about the ruling but the organisation declined to comment.

Contract dispute

Mr Pether and Mr Radwan were arrested in 2021 when they travelled to Iraq for what they thought was a business meeting.

Mr Pether was working in Dubai as an engineer for CME, which was contracted to work on CBI’s headquarters on the banks of the Tigris river.

The men were detained at the meeting and have remained in custody since, having each received a five-year jail sentence and ordered to pay $12 million by the Iraqi court. The dispute was over a $33 million contract awarded to CME in 2015.

The project was suspended a year later, with plummeting oil prices and Iraq’s war with the extremist group ISIS put forward as the main reasons.

Work was resumed in 2018, with CME working for 39 of the 48 months stipulated 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 that was suspended due to the onset of the pandemic.

CME was told by the bank it would not receive further payments for the extension, which led to the company objecting because, it said, the suspension was not its decision.

A return of $12 million was also requested by the bank for “special payments”.

Repeated attempts by The National over the past two years to obtain a comment from CME on the ruling have been unsuccessful.