Iraq’s central bank to blame for dispute behind jailing of Australian Robert Pether, tribunal finds

Robert Pether’s family has made a fresh plea for his release from a Baghdad prison after a tribunal found Iraq’s central bank was to blame for a dispute that led to his jailing Photograph: Supplied by family

An international tribunal has found Iraq’s central bank was to blame for a contractual dispute with an engineering firm that led to the jailing of Australian engineer Robert Pether, prompting his family to make a renewed plea that he be freed from the Baghdad prison cell where he has spent two years.

Pether and his colleague Khalid Radwan were arrested and jailed in 2021 over a contractual dispute between their employer, Cardno ME (CME), and the Central Bank of Iraq, which had hired the firm to help build its new Baghdad headquarters.