The family of an Australian engineer who was arrested in Iraq without explanation has pleaded for his release.
Robert Pether, 46, was detained on April 7 after he travelled from Dubai to Baghdad for a routine meeting with his client, the Central Bank of Iraq.
His wife, Desree, said he and an Egyptian colleague were arrested as soon as they arrived at the meeting.
She has spent weeks trying to get information from Australian Embassy officials and authorities in Baghdad. Since then, she was allowed two phone conversations with him.
“I have just been shaking for days. I can’t believe this is actually happening to us,” said Ms Pether, who is currently in Ireland with their three children.
“I was eventually able to speak to him over the phone last week and earlier this week.
“He is no longer in isolation and is sharing a cell with others. He said he is being treated well.”
She said her husband told her he had not been yet been charged with any offence.
“He hasn’t been charged but has been held for 28 days now,” she said.
“We’ve been told we will be informed about the bail application in the ‘near future’.”
Ms Pether is an Irish citizen whose family has lived in Dubai for 10 years. She was told her husband’s Dubai-based employer, CME Consulting, had provided a lawyer for him.
Mr Pether has had one court appearance with no translator and was returned to a detention centre.
The Egyptian colleague he was arrested with has not been identified publicly.
The National made several attempts to contact CME Consulting by email and phone but received no response. The company is a contractor on the Zaha Hadid-designed Central Bank of Iraq tower, on the banks of the Tigris River.
Iraqi government officials confirmed Mr Pether's arrest to The National but would not detail charges.
Ms Pether said the predicament was causing great distress.
“I didn’t tell my eight-year old daughter about it for three days because we didn’t want her to worry,” she said.
“I had to tell her in the end because Robert would phone home every night, so she knew something wasn’t right.
“Having to tell the children what was happening and watching their reaction was utterly devastating.”
Last week, Ireland’s Taoiseach, or prime minister, Micheal Martin, spoke about Mr Pether’s predicament in the Senate.
The Australian government said it was “providing consular assistance to an Australian detained in Iraq”.
“Owing to our privacy obligations we will not provide further comment,” it said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Mr Martin said: “We will do everything we possibly can.
“We know this must be a very difficult time for his family. We’re working with the Australian government, which is taking the lead.”
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Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
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School counsellors on mental well-being
Schools counsellors in Abu Dhabi have put a number of provisions in place to help support pupils returning to the classroom next week.
Many children will resume in-person lessons for the first time in 10 months and parents previously raised concerns about the long-term effects of distance learning.
Schools leaders and counsellors said extra support will be offered to anyone that needs it. Additionally, heads of years will be on hand to offer advice or coping mechanisms to ease any concerns.
“Anxiety this time round has really spiralled, more so than from the first lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic,” said Priya Mitchell, counsellor at The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi.
“Some have got used to being at home don’t want to go back, while others are desperate to get back.
“We have seen an increase in depressive symptoms, especially with older pupils, and self-harm is starting younger.
“It is worrying and has taught us how important it is that we prioritise mental well-being.”
Ms Mitchell said she was liaising more with heads of year so they can support and offer advice to pupils if the demand is there.
The school will also carry out mental well-being checks so they can pick up on any behavioural patterns and put interventions in place to help pupils.
At Raha International School, the well-being team has provided parents with assessment surveys to see how they can support students at home to transition back to school.
“They have created a Well-being Resource Bank that parents have access to on information on various domains of mental health for students and families,” a team member said.
“Our pastoral team have been working with students to help ease the transition and reduce anxiety that [pupils] may experience after some have been nearly a year off campus.
"Special secondary tutorial classes have also focused on preparing students for their return; going over new guidelines, expectations and daily schedules.”
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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
