A British citizen has been sentenced by an Iraqi court to 15 years in prison on charges of smuggling artifacts out of the country, in a case that has attracted international attention.
The verdict handed down to Jim Fitton, a retired geologist, shocked the Baghdad court, including his defense lawyer. He and his family have argued that Fitton, 66, had no criminal intent.
“I thought the worst case scenario would be a year, with suspension,” Fitton’s attorney Thair Soud said.
It was found that a German national tried with Fitton had no criminal intent in the case and will be released.
But Judge Jabir Abd Jabir found that by collecting the objects, which were revealed to be artifacts more than 200 years old according to a government technical investigation, and with the intention of transporting them out of the country, Fitton had a criminal intent to pass them on. of smuggling.
The judge ignored Soud’s arguments that exposed Fitton’s ignorance of Iraqi law and the value of the articles. Fitton and German national Volker Waldman were arrested at Baghdad airport on March 20 after airport security found items in their luggage. They had been part of a tourist expedition through the ancient places of the country.
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Fitton’s family was worried when he failed to arrive on a scheduled flight back to Kuala Lumpur, where he lives with his wife. They later learned that Fitton, a well-traveled geologist for oil and gas companies, had been taken to an airport detention cell where he was still detained, Fitton’s daughter, Leila, said on Monday. past.
The case drew attention when, frustrated by the perceived inaction by the British Foreign Office to intervene and assist in the Fitton case, her family initiated a petition with more than 100,000 signatures. The British diplomatic mission in Baghdad has not commented on its involvement in the case.
Fitton’s family said a total of 12 pottery fragments and other fragments were found in Fitton’s possession by Iraqi authorities, all collected as a souvenir during a group tourism expedition to Eridu, a former Mesopotamian site. in the present province of Dhi Qar.
Waldman’s defense team said the German tourist had been carrying the parts for Fitton, but did not pick them up from the scene. Both men were charged with smuggling under the country’s antiquities laws and could have faced the death penalty. However, officials said it was only a remote possibility.
Soud said he intended to appeal the sentence immediately. It is unclear whether Fitton can serve his sentence in his home country, which would require a bilateral agreement between Iraq and the United Kingdom.