[ad_1]
LONDON: An Australian engineer jailed in Iraq has written a letter to his family from prison, warning he faces a “death penalty for potential untreated skin cancer,” The Guardian reported on Monday. “.
Robert Pether, who was detained last year over a contract dispute over work on construction operations for a new central bank building in Iraq, warned he “was not going home”.
The 47-year-old, who survived skin cancer in 2005, attended regular checkups to monitor his health before his arrest.
But Payser warned in the letter that prison authorities, including a dermatologist called in for consultation, ignored the growth of a new lesion on his ear — the same location as the previous melanoma.
In June, he began to notice rapid changes in lesions and notified prison officials. But the dermatologist only prescribed Pether topical cream and it didn’t arrive.
“Time is ticking and my window of opportunity is narrow – certainly shorter than the time I should be incarcerated,” he wrote.
“How do you tell a little girl who loves unicorns and cats that her dad isn’t coming home?
“How do you tell your kids that you’re proud of them, but don’t share the honors (and pitfalls) of their lives with them?
“The hardest part is, how do you tell your wife, your significant other, that you won’t keep your promise to grow old together?
“These are the questions I currently grapple with every day – from the moment I wake up and sit on the floor of my cell doing my first count of the day, until the last thing at night, when I see my pictures of my family on the wall next to my bed.
“Hope is not abandoned and miracles can (and do) happen. However, the current reality looks bleak to me and my family.”
Earlier this year, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanis appealed to Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kadimi over Pesser’s situation.
“The Australian government continues to defend Mr Pether in the strongest terms and at the highest level,” an Australian Foreign Office spokesman said.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention released a report on Pether’s detention in March, warning it was an “arbitrary detention” and a “violation of international law”. The group called for his immediate and unconditional release.
[ad_2]
Source link