Family of ‘loving’ Brit jailed abroad ‘terrified’ of Iraqi prison conditions

Leila Fitton said her “loving retiree” dad Jim, who was sentenced to 15 years in an Iraqi jail, was subjected to 13 weeks of “emotional purgatory” before being hit with a “ridiculously harsh” verdict

The daughter of a Brit jailed in Iraq for smuggling pieces of archaeological “debris” says she’s “terrified” about her beloved dad’s wellbeing.

Dad-of-two Jim Fitton, 66, was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Baghdad court earlier this month for trying to leave the country with ancient fragments.

Mr Fitton – who could have been executed for the crime – was arrested during his first visit to the country while on a geology and archaeology tour.

German national Volker Waldmann, who was arrested alongside Mr Fitton, was acquitted of the same charges.

At a press conference today, his daughter Leila Fitton explained how the family is being kept in the dark about the “loving retiree” and the conditions he’s living in.

Ms Fitton said: “We have no knowledge of the conditions he faces and are terrified as to what he must be going through on a daily basis.

“My heart drops every time the phone rings.

“My father is not a criminal, he is a loving retiree who just wants to spend the years he has left reading books, enjoying nature and spending time with his family.

“He had no criminal intent and indeed did not know what he was doing was a crime.

“He is the victim of a terrible injustice.”

Ms Fitton told reporters the shards of pottery that lead to Mr Fitton’s “ridiculously harsh” prison sentence were “no more than tossed aside archaeological debris”.

She said: “After 13 weeks of emotional purgatory and a gruelling trial he was setenced to 15 years in prison – a highly political, unfair, and ridiculously harsh verdict for attempting to export artefacts out of Iraq.

“These artefacts are in reality no more than tossed aside archaeological debris the size of your fingernail and widely regarded to have no cultural or economic value.

“They are scattered all over the floor at the site in Eridu, unprotected with no signs warning agains their removal.”

Thoughout his defence, Mr Fitton maintained that he and others in the group were encouraged to take them home as “souvenirs of the trip”, Ms Fitton said.

She added: “He now finds himself facing what amounts to a death sentence in a general population prison in Baghdad with no contact with the outside world.”

Last week, Wera Hobhouse MP for Bath – where Mr Fitton’s family lives – told The Mirror how the FCDO “fell asleep at the wheel” in his case.

“All we know from the family is that they’re going to appeal”, she explained.

“My impression is that the Foreign Office has done very little, was asleep at the wheel, I don’t know.”

Ms Hobhouse said she and Leila’s partner Sam Tasker managed to secure urgent meetings with Amanda Milling, the Tory Minister of State for Asia and the Middle East, but that responses from her office were “very reluctant” and “draggy”.

“And the response, as always, is that we deal with these things not in the chamber and not publicly but we do it behind closed doors”, she told The Mirror.

Mr Tasker echoed Ms Hobhouse’s claims today, speaking of his anger at the “complete lack of compassion and empathy” of the ministry’s junior ministers.

He also slammed the “complete lack of engagement by the Foreign Secretary herself.”

He went on: “The foreign secretary to our knowledge has never even acknowledged Jim’s existence.”

The Mirror has contacted the FCDO for comment.