Bath family pleading for help as father faces Iraq execution
Retired geologist Jim Fitton was arrested on suspicion of trying to smuggle historical artefacts out of the country
Last updated 3rd May 2022
A Bath woman, whose father is facing the death penalty in Iraq, is pleading the government for help to get him freed.
Father-of-two Jim Fitton, who is 66, was arrested at Baghdad airport last month on suspicion of trying to smuggle historical artefacts out of the country.
He had been in Iraq as part of a geology and archaeology tour and had collected shards of broken pottery to take home as a souvenir, which his daughter says are worthless.
Despite that the potential punishment for the crime under Iraqi law is execution and a petition to get him freed has been signed more than 111,000 times in just a few days.
"Towards the end of the trip, Jim and the others had been taken to a site in Iraq called Eridu, which as far as we can see from videos and images online and images shared by Jim on the day, is a wide open desert area with sand stretching away as far as the eye can see, and piles of debris scattered everywhere," Jim's family have written on the petition page.
"Broken pieces of masonry, small fragments of pottery, small pieces of stone and shards of what look like old tile are littered all around.
"There are no guards present, no signage warning against removal of any of the detritus, and indeed neither the Ministry of Tourism representative with them nor the experienced Tour Guide team...gave even a hint of warning that these items were considered valuable."
Jim's family claim he and others asked if it would be ok to take pieces home and were told it would be fine, "as the debris had no economic or historical value".
Despite that, when the pieces were discovered in their luggage at check in, Jim and another man were arrested.
Their tour guide meanwhile, who was taken ill at the airport, has since died of a suspected stroke in hospital in Baghdad, while the Iraqi National Museum has examined the pieces and confirmed they are more than 200 years old and manmade, which means they do qualify as "artifacts" under Iraqi law.
"We have, since then, been lobbying the FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) under the radar for nearly three weeks," Jim's family continues.
"We had been advised to keep the case as quiet as possible so as not to ruffle any feathers in Iraq, however after three weeks of radio silence from anyone in authority at FCDO, only to now be told that they are unable to help for fear of upsetting the Iraqi authorities by intervening in their judicial process, we have no choice but to start this petition, to speak to the media, and shout from the rooftops about this absolute injustice before it is too late."
Speaking to the Press Association (PA), daughter Leila and her husband Sam Tasker, who both live in Bath, have said Jim's sentencing is set to coincide with a long planned event celebrating their wedding.
"There is never a good time for something like this to happen but we are one week away from what should be the happiest day of our lives, and the culmination of more than two years of planning, and it's been turned into an absolute living nightmare," they said.
Bath MP Wera Hobhouse says it is "impossible" to imagine what Jim and his family are going through.
"We are pressing the Foreign Office to intervene but sadly they are continuing to refuse," she is quoted as saying by PA.
"I cannot understand why the Foreign Office is not intervening when Jim's life lays in the balance.
"The Foreign Office must do everything in their power to bring Jim back home to his family."
The Foreign Office has said it is providing consular support and is in contact with the local authorities.
Foreign Office minister Amanda Milling, in a letter to Ms Hobhouse, said last week: "We understand the urgency of the case, and have already raised our concerns with the Iraqi authorities regarding the possible imposition of the death penalty in Mr Fitton's case and the UK's opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle."
A Foreign Office spokesperson also told us in a statement: “We are providing consular support to a British national in Iraq and are in contact with the local authorities.
“The British Government’s policy on the death penalty is clear: We oppose it in all circumstances, as a matter of principle.”