Appeal to save geologist from death penalty

Adistraught Fife woman is pleading with authorities to intervene and save her brother from the death penalty in Iraq.

Ruth Zuccarello, 68, said she fears seeing the name Jim Fitton appear on Amnesty International’s list of executions abroad.

The pensioner, who lives in Kirkcaldy, believes her family has been badly let down by the Foreign Office as officials in Baghdad prepare to hold a trial on Sunday.

The Iraqi working week ends tomorrow so his loved ones have limited time to intervene before offices close over Friday and Saturday.

The UK Government has come under increasing pressure to help free Mr Fitton, a father-of-two and retired geologist who now lives in Malaysia with his wife, Sarijah.

The 66-year-old has been detained in Iraq for five weeks after being accused of attempting to smuggle historic artefacts out of the country. His family say he collected stones and shards of broken pottery as souvenirs while visiting a site in Eridu, in the country’s south-east, as part of an organised geology and archaeology tour.

They say he was assured they had no economic or historical value and the fragments were in the open with no signage warning against removal.

However, the items were judged to be artefacts under Iraqi law and the charge levelled at Mr Fitton states “whoever exported or intended to export, deliberately, an antiquity, from Iraq, shall be punishable with execution”.

Ms Zuccarello said the situation is “horrifying”.

“This is a case of gross injustice and we need the Foreign Office to recognise that,” she said.

“I really implore them to just cut through all their bureaucracy so we can get this case resolved.”

She added: “It can be resolved, and it can be resolved easily, without them really interfering in the judicial system in Iraq. No one has to lose face.

Because otherwise we as a family are going to live through a horrific tragedy.”

The family’s lawyer drafted a proposal under Iraqi law to have the case closed before trial.

But they need the Foreign Office to “put its weight behind the plan and endorse it” to secure a high-level meeting with judicial officials.

More than 113,000 people have signed a petition launched by Mr Fitton’s family, calling on the Foreign Office “to do everything they can to save his life and bring him home”.

Officials say they have been providing support since he was arrested in March but cannot interfere in the legal systems of other countries.

Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath MP Neale Hanvey has taken up the case directly with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.

“This is a man who believed he was acting lawfully and sought reassurance that this was indeed the case,” Mr Hanvey said.

EXECUTION FEARS: British geologist Jim Fitton, who is accused of attempting to smuggle historic artefacts out of Iraq, and his concerned wife Sarijah Fitton.