Australian engineer Robert Pether leaves Iraq after five years detained

Australian engineer Robert Pether was allowed to leave Iraq on 12 October 2026, ending a detention that began with his April 2021 arrest in Baghdad and included more than four years in prison. Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed his departure and said she had spoken with him shortly before he left Baghdad.theguardian.com+1

Why the case mattered

The case matters because Pether's detention drew criticism from the United Nations and became a point of friction between Australia and Iraq. Unlike his release from prison in June 2025, this outcome allowed him to actually leave the country and travel to Ireland, where his wife and children live. Pether, an engineer working for CME Consulting, was contracted to help build the new Central Bank of Iraq headquarters near the Tigris River in Baghdad. He and his Egyptian co-worker Khaled Radwan flew to Baghdad in April 2021 for what they believed was a routine meeting with bank officials to resolve a payment dispute.abc.net.au

During that meeting, both men were detained. An Iraqi court later sentenced each to five years in prison and ordered them to pay $12 million, in connection with allegations that CME Consulting spent money that should have gone to an architect and a subcontractor. Pether has maintained his innocence throughout the case.

The dispute traces back to a $33 million contract awarded to CME in 2015. The project was paused a year later, with falling oil prices and Iraq's war against ISIS cited as reasons. Work resumed in 2018, and CME worked 39 of the 48 months specified in the contract but received payment for only 32 of those months before payment was withheld.

What the UN found

In March 2022, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Pether had been arbitrarily detained in breach of international law. The group also found the arrest constituted an enforced disappearance and reported complaints that Pether was exposed to extreme cold, threats of death, humiliation and psychological abuse while held in a 2x2 metre cell with the lights permanently on.

A 2023 ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce's International Court of Arbitration found that Iraq's central bank was to blame for the contractual dispute. Pether was released from prison in June 2025 after more than four years behind bars but remained in Iraq because of travel restrictions linked to the financial claims in the case.

Dispute over the contract

Greens leader David Shoebridge welcomed the release but said the Australian government had missed opportunities to pressure Iraq sooner, arguing that Australia is a substantial funder of the Iraqi government and its central bank. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the government made more than 280 representations to Iraqi officials and stated that Australia does not make monetary contributions in relation to alleged offences.

Pether's wife Desree said she was hugely relieved, calling the experience an absolute nightmare, especially in recent months, and noting obstacles right up to the last minute. She said he was due to arrive in Ireland at about 9.25am local time on 12 October 2026. His co-worker Khaled Radwan has also left Iraq.