Foreign Office accused of failing jailed geologist

A retired British geologist who could face the death penalty after being accused of attempting to smuggle ancient artefacts out of Iraq is being abandoned to his fate by the Foreign Office, his family has claimed.

Jim Fitton, 66, was arrested at Baghdad airport on March 20 after customs officials found 12 shards of broken pottery in his luggage. The father of two, who lives in Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia, was in Iraq for a geology and archaeology tour. He is being held in a cell at the airport ahead of his trial, which is expected to take place in May.

Sam Tasker, Fitton’s son-in-law, said he had picked up the fragments while visiting Iraq’s historical sites, which had no signs warning against their removal.

Tasker, 27, said that Fitton would not have attempted to take the shards back to Malaysia had he been aware of the ‘‘perceived severity’’ of the act.

The family say they have been subjected to ‘‘total radio silence’’ from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. ‘‘The response from the FCDO after three weeks of deliberations effectively [was] ‘We don’t want to help because we don’t want to be seen to be interfering with the Iraqi judiciary process’,’’ Tasker said.

Tasker alleges he was told that Britain would lobby the Iraqi government to reduce Fitton’s punishment if the retired geologist were sentenced to death but ‘‘aside from that they will not offer any assistance’’.

‘‘The FCDO is effectively abandoning Jim to his fate because it’s less complicated than having a diplomatic ding-dong with the

Iraqis . . . there’s a man’s life involved here,’’ he said.

The family is asking the Foreign Office to arrange a meeting with Iraq’s director of public prosecutions so their lawyer in the country can explain the circumstances. This is an attempt to get the case before the court of cassation, which the family says would then close it without a sentence being passed.

‘‘As far as we are aware, that would probably take a phone call, maybe a letter from the ministers in the UK Foreign Office. It’s certainly not a big ask,’’ Tasker said.

The family said that consular staff in Iraq have visited Fitton weekly to check on his wellbeing but the British ambassador had not reached out to them.

Leila Fitton, his 31-year-old daughter, said: ‘‘There’s not a second that goes by that

I’m not thinking about this . . . my mum’s just praying non-stop.’’

The case was raised in the House of Commons on Tuesday by Wera Hobhouse, Leila Fitton and Sam Tasker’s constituency MP, who urged the Foreign Office to respond.

Hobhouse, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, said: ‘‘From speaking with Jim’s family, it is clear that he would not intentionally disrespect or appropriate the rich and fascinating culture of the region.

‘‘I have written to the Foreign Office, been in touch with the consulate support services, and contacted the minister’s office directly, but so far the response has been disappointing.’’

An FCDO spokeswoman said: ‘‘We are providing consular support to a British national in Iraq and are in contact with the local authorities.’’ – The Times