Geologist jailed in Iraq has conviction overturned

A RETIRED British geologist’s conviction for attempted artefact smuggling has been quashed, according to his family.

Jim Fitton, 66, had been jailed for 15 years after collecting 12 stones and shards of broken pottery as souvenirs while visiting a site in Eridu, in Iraq’s south east, as part of an organised geology and archaeology tour.

The father of two, a resident of Malaysia, had been told by tour leaders that collecting shards from the site would not be an issue.

But Mr Fitton was then arrested on March 20 last year in Baghdad, alongside a German man on the trip, with 12 shards of stone and broken pottery said to be recovered from his luggage.

The Iraqi government or judiciary subsequently had the shards analysed, and found they were more than 200 years old. This meant that Mr Fitton possibly faced the death penalty for attempting to smuggle historical artefacts out of Iraq.

Mr Fitton’s children, Joshua and Leila, alongside Leila’s husband Sam Tasker, had launched a petition urging the Government to act, which amassed over 350,000 signatures.

In June, Mr Fitton was jailed for 15 years, but his conviction has now been quashed according to his family.

Mr Tasker said in a statement: “We understand that this process is under way – he is still in prison this evening but will soon be released.”