The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
‘Artefact’ Brit jailed in Iraq
ABritish citizen has been sentenced by an Iraqi court to 15 years in prison after being convicted of attempting to smuggle artefacts out of the country.
The verdict handed down to retired geologist Jim Fitton shocked the court in Baghdad, including his defence lawyer.
Mr Fitton’s sister, Ruth Zacarello, 68, from Kirkcaldy, and her MP, Neale Hanvey, had campaigned on his behalf and argued that Fitton, 66, had no criminal intent.
German Volker Waldman was tried with Fitton and found not to have had criminal intent so will be released.
“I thought the worst-case scenario would be one year, with suspension,” Fitton’s lawyer Thair Soud, visibly shocked, said.
Judge Jabir Abd Jabir found that, according to the government’s investigation, Fitton had criminal intent to smuggle the artefacts and intended to transport them out of the country.
The two men first appeared in court on May 15, telling judges they had not acted with criminal intent and had no idea they might have broken laws.
Fitton said he “suspected” the items he collected were ancient fragments, but that “at the time I didn’t know about Iraqi laws”, or that taking the shards was not permitted.
Fitton said as a geologist he was in the habit of collecting such fragments as a hobby and had no intention to sell them.
The judge, however, did not consider Mr Soud’s arguments that laid out Fitton’s ignorance of Iraqi laws and the value of the items he picked up. Fitton and Mr Waldman, were arrested in Baghdad airport on March 20 after airport security discovered the items in their luggage.
Twelve fragments of pottery and other shards were found in Fitton’s possession by Iraqi authorities, all collected as souvenirs, Fitton’s family says, during a tourism trip to Eridu, an ancient Mesopotamian site in what is now Dhi Qar province.
Controversy, however, remains about the items that Fitton had picked up. A report by the Iraqi Culture Ministry stated they were over 200 years old, without offering any further explanation. But any item less than 1,500 years old disqualifies it from being from antiquity.
Fitton’s lawyer said he intends to appeal against the sentence immediately.