Robert Pether was detained in Iraq in 2021 and his family feared he would die in jail. Now he’s coming home

Australian foreign minister welcomes Iraqi government’s decision to allow engineer to leave Baghdad Follow our Australia politics live blog for latest updates Australian engineer Robert Pether has been allowed to leave Iraq after a four-year stint in a Baghdad jail cell that his family feared would kill him. Pether’s family say they have been “living in hell” since he was arrested without charge in April 2021 in connection to a business dispute between his firm – which was building a new headquarters for the centra.