We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

Mr Fitton, 66, of Bath, was jailed for 15 years last month after he tried to leave Iraq with stones and pottery shards picked up during a tour. Yesterday, his lawyer Thaer Saoud said his appeal against the conviction had been successful, adding: “My client will soon be free.”

Mr Fitton’s son-in-law Sam Tasker, 27, said: “We still have no idea what the timeline looks like and do not want to do any formal interviews until Jim is safely home with us.”

“As with the appeal process over the past month, we have chosen a cautious silence for fear of inflaming tensions in Iraq.”

“We are extremely grateful for the support of our lawyer, embassy staff and our MP’s office while we have fought this verdict, and greatly appreciate the decision of the appeals court to completely overturn the verdict and fully recognise Jim’s innocence.”

“We are also hugely grateful for the more than 350,000 people who supported us on our petition.”

Bath’s Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse supported the family in their bid to have the conviction quashed.

Mr Fitton’s arrest in March stunned the father-of-two, his family and friends. He had insisted the pieces were only souvenirs with no historical or monetary value.

But Iraqi officials said they dated back more than 200 years and charged him with attempted smuggling of “an antiquity” under a 2002 law. The maximum punishment is the death penalty, but a court agreed to reduce the sentence due to Mr Fitton’s age.

The geologist, who has worked for oil and gas companies, was on an organised tour in Eridu in southeastern Iraq when he found the items.

He and German tourist Volker Waldmann were arrested when the pieces were found in their possession as their group prepared to fly out of Baghdad on March 20.

Mr Waldmann was cleared after his lawyers argued he was just carrying two of the items for Mr Fitton and had not picked them up at the site.

After he was jailed, Mr Fitton’s wife Sarijah and children Joshua and Leila insisted he had no idea that any of the items he had taken had any historical significance.

The family had also expressed their concerns about Mr Fitton’s safety in an Iraqi jail.

Source: Read Full Article