Robert Pether has spoken publicly for the first time since returning to Australia after more than five years in an Iraqi prison. The engineer maintains his innocence and described his release as coming just hours before he would have died.
Australian Engineer Returns Home After Iraqi Ordeal
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Pether and his Egyptian colleague Khalid Radwan were detained in Baghdad in 2021. They had flown there for a meeting with bank officials to resolve a dispute with their engineering firm, CME Consulting. Pether said, 'We were innocent when we were taken on the 7th of April 2021, and we remain innocent today.'
He described his final days in prison as a struggle with critical illness and excruciating pain. He praised a woman he respects deeply, saying she is incredible and that coming home was an emotional moment he can't describe.
Sources: theguardian.com