Robert Pether has been released on bail from an Iraqi prison, Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs announced on Thursday, June 5.
An Australian national, Pether had been living in Elphin, Co Roscommon with his wife, Irish woman Desree McCarthy Pether, and their three children in the years prior to his arrest in April 2021.
In a statement on Thursday evening, Ireland's Tánaiste Simon Harris said he had been informed of Pether's release, adding that his "imprisonment in Iraq has been a case of great concern."
Harris said: "This is very welcome news in what has been a long and distressing saga for Robert’s wife, three children and his wider family and friends.
"Foreign Minister Hussein of Iraq, whom I spoke to last month to urge Robert’s release, called me this evening with the news.
"I was informed that Robert has been released on bail and for the moment he remains in Iraq, but I welcomed this as a first step to his being allowed to return to his family in Roscommon.
"I also spoke this evening with Robert’s wife, Desree Pether, about this positive development.
"I want to thank Irish diplomatic officials based in the region for their continued work on this case.
"We remain concerned about Robert’s health and outstanding charges, but I am hopeful now of a positive resolution in this case."
On social media, Harris said he had spoken directly with Pether. He added: "We will not rest until we get him back home to Roscommon and to his family."
Meanwhile, Desree, who has been campaigning for her husband's release ever since he was arrested, told RTÉ News on Thursday that his release is "a very small step in the right direction."
Desree said her husband has been very sick for months and that his family needs him home. However, she told RTÉ News that "there is still a travel ban" in place.
"Enough is enough," the Roscommon woman said. "Three international courts have ruled in his employer's favour and said there is no grounds for imprisonment."
Pether, an engineer with the Dubai-based CME Consulting, was arrested alongside his Egyptian colleague Khalid Radwan "without explanation" in Baghdad on April 7, 2021, following a contract dispute between the men's employer and the Iraqi government.
RTÉ News reported that in August 2021, Pether and Radwan were sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay a $12 million penalty over allegations that their employer spent funds that should have been paid to others involved in the building of the bank's new headquarters.
Later, in March 2022, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Pether and Radwan's arrests were "arbitrary," that they had not been afforded their proper rights, and that Pether had been subject to "ill-treatment."
The Working Group said that in its view, "the Government of Iraq failed to respect the right of Messrs. Pether and Radwan to legal assistance at all times, which is inherent in the right to liberty and security of person and the right to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law ..."
The Working Group called for Pether and Radwan's immediate release, as well as compensation and other reparations. It also said it would refer the case to the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment for appropriate action.
In February 2023, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)’s International Court of Arbitration found that Iraq's Central Bank was at fault with Pether and Radwan's employer and ordered it to pay the company.
UK human rights lawyer Peter Griffin, who is representing Pether, told BBC that the ICC finding "completely undercuts Iraq's argument that Robert's imprisonment is justified" by the "supposed wrongdoings" of the company he worked for.
"That is now totally disproven and cannot provide the basis for his incarceration," Griffin said.
Despite the Working Group's opinion and the ICC ruling in favor of Pether and Radwan's employers, the men remained in jail.
In February, Desree told the Joe Finnegan Show on Shannonside Northern Sound how her husband had been due to be released on January 8 - before new allegations were made against him of money laundering.
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