Desree’s husband is being held in an Iraqi prison. They don’t know if he’ll ever come home.

As a leading mechanical engineer, Robert Pether travelled a lot for work. But no matter how far he ventured, how busy he was, he’d always check in with his family. He would message his wife, Desree, to tell her the outcome of important meetings. He’d call in the evening to speak to his teenage sons and read his young daughter a bedtime story.

But on the evening of the April 7, 2021, there was silence.

Robert was in Baghdad attending critical meetings about a project he was working on — new headquarters for the Central Bank of Iraq. Desree’s concerned messages went unanswered. She tried his colleague who was also on the trip. No response. 

Then, the following morning, Desree received news from Robert’s employer. News she had to break to her sons, then aged 15 and 17.

Image: Supplied.

“I went in and woke the boys up. It was about seven o'clock in the morning,” Desree told Mamamia. “I said, ‘Daddy's been arrested.’

“Just watching their faces… It broke my heart into a million pieces.”

More than two years on, Australian Robert Pether and his Egyptian colleague, Khaled Zaghloul, remain behind bars in Iraq where they are serving a five-year sentence for fraud. They were also handed a US$12 million fine, but a spate of additional charges now see them facing a further penalty of US$50 million.

Their detention, which relates to a contract dispute between the Central Bank of Iraq and their employer, CME Consulting, has been described by the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention as a breach of international law. 

In its March 2022 report into the case, the Working Group alleged that the men’s detention was designed to “exercise leverage over their employer and obtain substantial payments”. It called for their “immediate unconditional release”. 

Yet, despite multiple retrial applications, appeals and bail applications, there has been little positive progress.

“He hasn’t committed a crime,” Desree said. “They're both hostages in a contract dispute.”

Desree said Robert and Mr Zaghloul’s legal team has recently submitted an application for retrial — their fourth. But Robert is holding little hope, as he fears that his inability to pay the increasing financial penalties may keep him in prison for life.

Desree refuses to accept that possibility. And so, she continues to agitate for the release of her husband, a man she describes as “a gentle giant”, a great dad to their three children, and her best friend. 

Image: Supplied.

It’s a job that takes 18 hours of her day, seven days a week, and has left her physically and emotionally exhausted.

But seeing what it’s doing to their boys, now 20 and 18, and their 10-year-old daughter, is proving the toughest part of all.

“The look in their eyes now…” she said. “In photos, I can see how their eyes have changed— the pain. It's just incredible.”

Robert’s life behind bars.

Robert Pether was hesitant to travel to Iraq that April. 

Desree said the Central Bank project was months from completion, but allegations about unpaid invoices threatened to stall the project. Hoping to resolve the dispute, Robert and Mr Zaghloul returned to Baghdad for meetings with the bank’s Governor.

At one such meeting, on the afternoon of April 7, 12 armed officers stormed into the room and took the pair into custody. 

During the early days of their detention, Robert was reportedly placed in solitary confinement, interviewed by police multiple times without access to a lawyer, starved, dehydrated, and subjected to inhumane treatment. 

“He was put in a 2m by 2m cell with only a carpet to sleep on and the lights constantly on. Reportedly, Mr. Pether refuses to speak about the treatment he endured while at [the facility], with the source suggesting that he was subjected to acts of torture and ill-treatment,” the HRC report states.

“It is reported that Mr. Pether lost 15kg during the first 12 days of his detention.”

Robert was also forced to sign a statement in Arabic, a language that he does not speak. 

“That's the entire basis of the case,” Desree told Mamamia. “There is no actual evidence against them. Nothing to back up the statement — nothing. And they have multiple times tried to prove that they're innocent with bundles of evidence, and it's been rejected in every court setting.

“[I feel] absolute disgust that it's been allowed to continue.”

Robert and Mr Zaghloul were later moved to the Al-Muthanna detainment centre in Baghdad where they remain today, housed in an overcrowded cell with more than two-dozen men.

Image: Supplied.

Robert now has better access to his lawyers and is able to call his family. They speak for an hour or so every day. 

“Before, it was sporadic, and for maybe three minutes,” Desree said. “So, you were just constantly carrying your phone everywhere and afraid to even have a shower in case you missed a call and then you didn't hear from him for another week.”

Though Desree cherishes their daily chats, it’s not the same Robert she’s speaking to. She said their whole dynamic has changed. She avoids certain topics so as not to upset him. The future, for example, is off the table.

“The way things are going he just doesn't see a future,” she said.

“Two weeks ago, he told me that he wanted me to move on with my life and forget about him. Of course I said no. But it was a very tearful conversation. 

“I've had to talk him off the ledge multiple times during this two-year period. And particularly at Christmas.”

The missed Christmases, birthdays and graduations have been some of the toughest times for them all.

“It's devastating,” she said. “The children's life with their dad has been stolen, savagely stolen, from us. It's so hard to deal with and so unfair.”

Though the family has lived in Ireland for the past decade, last year she staged a protest outside the Iraqi embassy in London and this month she returned to Australia to meet with authorities and politicians. Her waking hours are filled posting to social media, doing interviews with the press, and making phone calls to lawyers and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The stress is taking its toll. Desree already suffers multiple sclerosis, and over the past two years she has also had to contend with anxiety, panic attacks, and blood pressure problems. She hasn’t told Robert about her new medical conditions — she doesn’t want to add to his worries.

“I have to be strong for the kids. And I have to be strong for Rob as well,” she said.

#freerobertpether: “Australia needs to be outraged”

While Robert’s future remains murky, Desree said there’s been “huge improvements” in support under the Albanese government and that she’s been assured Robert is “a top priority”.

In a statement issued to Mamamia, a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the Australian Government has been providing “extensive consular assistance” to Robert and his family since he was first detained two years ago.

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“We have consistently advocated for Mr Pether’s rights and welfare at all levels. We have made 145 representations to Iraqi authorities on Mr Pether’s behalf, most recently on 4 April 2023,” the spokesperson said.

“Officials from the Australian Embassy in Baghdad are providing consular support to Mr Pether in detention, including through regular visits and working with Iraqi authorities to ensure he is able to access appropriate medical care. Consular officers in Baghdad have visited Mr Pether on 64 separate occasions.”

The spokesperson said that while the Australian Government is unable to intervene in another country's legal or court processes “we continue to convey our expectations that Mr Pether is entitled to due process, humane and fair treatment, and access to his legal team.”

“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will continue to provide consular assistance and support to Mr Pether and his family, for as long as needed.”

Desree would like to see more collective outrage.

“There needs to be a lot more public condemnation of what’s happening to Robert because there has been none. And for him, that’s soul destroying,” she said.

“He's not a bad person. He hasn't committed any crime. He needs support from Australia. Australia needs to be outraged that one of its people is being so horrendously treated.”

She hopes one day to play a role in changing the way authorities handle arbitrary detention of their citizens. If other families can be spared the pain hers has endured, she said, it will all be worth it.

“We're all broken. And every single one of us has got issues and scars and wounds from this,” she said. “We all have to heal — and that’s another whole mountain to climb when he gets out.”

When.

If you are struggling with mental health, support is available. Please call Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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