A British citizen has been sentenced by an Iraqi court to 15 years in prison on charges of smuggling artifacts outside the country in a case that has attracted international attention.
The verdict against Jim Fitton, a retired geologist, shocked a court in Baghdad, including his lawyer. He and his family claim that Fitton, 66, had no criminal intent.
“I thought the worst-case scenario would be a year of repeal,” said Fitton’s lawyer, Thair Soud.
It has been established that a German citizen tried with Fitton has no criminal intentions in the case and will be released.
But Judge Jabir Abd Jabir found that by picking up items unearthed as artifacts more than 200 years old according to a technical government investigation and intending to transport them out of the country, Fitton had a criminal intent to move them.
The judge did not take into account Sowd’s arguments, which set out Fitton’s ignorance of Iraqi law and the value of the items. Fitton and German citizen Volker Waldman were arrested at Baghdad airport on March 20th after airport security found items in their luggage. They were part of a tourist expedition through the ancient sites of the country.
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Fitton’s family was worried when he did not arrive on a regular flight back to Kuala Lumpur, where he lives with his wife. It was later learned that Fitton, a traveling geologist for oil and gas companies, had been taken to a cell at the airport, where he was still being held, Fitton’s daughter Leila said last month.
The case attracted attention when, disappointed by the inaction of the British Foreign Office to intervene and assist in Fitton’s case, his family launched 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 pieces of pottery and other pieces were found in the possession of Iraqi authorities, all of which were collected as souvenirs during a group tour to Eridu, an ancient Mesopotamian site in what is now DiCar province.
Waldman’s defense team said the German tourist was carrying the pieces for Fitton, but he did not pick them up. Both men were accused of smuggling under the country’s antiquity laws and could potentially face the death penalty. However, authorities said this was only a small possibility.
South said he intends to appeal the sentence immediately. It is unclear whether Fitton can serve his sentence in his home country, which will require a bilateral agreement between Iraq and the United Kingdom.
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