Wrongly detained Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert says the public should be putting sustained pressure on the Albanese government to do more to bring home Australian engineer Robert Pether, jailed in Iraq.
Moore-Gilbert, who spent 804 days behind bars in Iran for accusations of spying, told Crikey she wasn’t convinced quiet diplomacy was the best way of freeing people in arbitrary detention.
Her comments come as Pether’s family plea for his release, saying his health is quickly deteriorating.
“Quiet diplomacy has not worked for Robert Pether,” Moore-Gilbert said. “I believe it has been media attention which has forced the government to pay closer attention to Pether’s case, and without it, his situation would have been more precarious still.”
Pether has been jailed in Iraq since April last year and has recently been served with new papers claiming he owes the Iraqi government US$50 million.
Pether and an Egyptian coworker, Khalid Radwan, were jailed following a dispute over work the men were doing on behalf of their Dubai-based employer, CME Consulting.
The work involved building new headquarters for the bank, but years of pandemic and security-related delays led to a dispute between the bank and CME, which ended up with the two employees being jailed.
The United Nations has deemed the pair were arbitrarily detained and denied a fair trial.
Pether’s family says he isn’t getting the correct treatment for a suspected skin condition they fear could be cancerous.
“Australia needs to do significantly more to protect and defend its citizens,” Pether’s wife, Desree, told Crikey.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said the Australian government had “consistently advocated for Robert Pether’s interests at all levels”.
“We continue to make sustained representations to Iraqi authorities on his behalf,” the person said. “Our advocacy has ensured Mr Pether has received regular contact with his family, regular visits by Australian Embassy officials, contact with his legal team and access to medical treatment. Australia cannot intervene in the legal processes of another country.”
Australian officials have met with Pether 55 times since he was arrested, and have contacted the Iraqi government 120 times on his behalf, the department said.
Moore-Gilbert said ongoing pressure on the government would make sure it continues advocating on behalf of Pether and said a public campaign could even strengthen the government’s negotiating position.
“In my case, I wanted my situation to be publicised, and saw no benefit in keeping my imprisonment quiet,” she said. “Journalists, however, sat on the information for almost a year before finally publishing it, which I believe was a mistake.”
“Because ‘quiet diplomacy’ necessitates keeping things secret, we don’t actually know how many Australian citizens have been successfully returned from detention abroad following backroom negotiations, and likewise we don’t actually know how many Australians are currently wrongfully detained abroad.”
A DFAT fact sheet said Australian diplomats managed 773 cases of Australians arrested or detained overseas in the past financial year, including 330 where Australians were in prison.
Moore-Gilbert was released by Iran in late 2020 after a trilateral diplomatic deal that involved the release of three Iranian prisoners from detention in Thailand.
