Nala was eight when her father, Robert Pether, was detained in Iraq.
Now, she’s 12 and worried her one Christmas wish won’t come true — to see her father again.
This year will mark the fourth Christmas the father of four has been separated from his family.
Pether and his Egyptian colleague Khaled Zaghloul were sentenced to five years in jail in Iraq in 2021 and fined US$12 million ($19 million) on fraud charges.
The charges stemmed from allegations that the company they worked for defrauded the Iraqi government during a project to build the new headquarters of the country’s central bank.
Pether and his family have vehemently denied the charges. Instead, they say he’s being held “hostage”.
Pether’s wife, Desree, told SBS News Christmas isn’t the same with her husband locked up.
“Nala is 12 now and doesn’t believe in Santa any more because she’s written so many letters asking Santa to drop by over the last three Christmases and to pick up daddy on the way home,” she said.
“That was her only Christmas wish.
“She stopped believing, which is really sad.”
This will be Robert Pether’s fourth Christmas in jail. Pictured: Robert (third from left) and his family before his imprisonment. Source: Supplied / Desree Pether
Desree said Christmas was always a “big thing” in their family, but traditions have been forced to change in her husband’s absence.
“We race through opening the presents and then get on with our day. We haven’t done the traditional Christmas dinner in three years without him. It’s really, really hard,” she said.
“We were hoping that he would be getting out very soon, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to be the case.”
Robert Pether’s family worries if he will survive until next Christmas. Source: Supplied / Desree Pether
“If Robert’s still there by next Christmas, that means they’ve nailed him with another fabricated case and 15 more years,” Desree said.
She worries about his deteriorating health conditions, including the lack of care for a suspected melanoma. If his conditions continue as they do, she said Robert “won’t be around for next Christmas”.
“He’s not well. He’s skin and bone. A bad flu would take him out.
“At this point, we just don’t think he’s going to be around to see next Christmas, let alone this one, if they put another fabricated case against him.”
Christmas in a cell: what it’s really like
for 804 days and sentenced to 10 years on charges of espionage. She was released in late 2020.
She said when you’re in these overseas prisons, special events like Christmas can be some of the most vulnerable times.
“I would block it out and try not to think about it because those are moments in which you most miss having [loved ones] in your life and when you most feel alone,” Moore-Gilbert told SBS News.
“The first holiday period I spent behind bars, I didn’t even know what day or month it was … everything is erased. Your entire self is erased. Your entire identity is erased. You get a number and they call you by that number.”
Conditions in overseas prisons can also feature “grievous human rights abuses”, said Moore-Gilbert as she spoke about the Australians in overseas jails.
“I think the prison systems leave a lot to be desired … it’s really bleak,” she said. “I believe the conditions are terrible in a lot of these prisons these Aussies are involved in.”
“How do you even celebrate in such a place?”
Pether not the only Australian spending Christmas in an overseas jail
In June, after five years in a British prison. But there are many Australians who will remain in overseas detainment this festive season.
There are no concrete figures out there on how many Australians are wrongfully imprisoned overseas.
Moore-Gilbert said this is because there is “no legal definition of wrongful detention” in Australia.
This makes it difficult to distinguish between the Australians legitimately and wrongfully imprisoned overseas, as factors like political activity, freedom of expression or journalistic enquiry could also be behind their arrest.
Although there are no official figures, Moore-Gilbert estimates between 10 and 30 Australians would remain wrongfully detained in overseas jails this Christmas.
While several of these cases remain private, some of the well-known include:
Adel Al Deeb
Believed to still be languishing in a Syrian prison dubbed “the human slaughterhouse,” .
His sister, Jamal Al Deeb, told SBS News her brother was kidnapped after returning to Lebanon from Australia in 1977 during the Lebanese civil war.
He had moved back to Lebanon after a family emergency but was “tricked into being abducted by Syrian forces in 1984”, according to his family.
Despite the and the release of thousands of prisoners, Al Deeb’s family has still not heard from him.
Jamal said she wants the Australian government to look for her brother.
“Because he is an Australian citizen. All his kids are here. He’s still there, 100 per cent he’s still there. He’s still alive.”
Gordon Ng
Australian citizen Gordon Ng was one of the 47 pro-democracy activists to be jailed for up to 10 years in Hong Kong.
They were arrested and charged in 2021 with conspiracy to commit subversion under a Beijing-imposed national security law.
In a statement, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the government was gravely concerned by the sentencing in November.
“The Australian government has advocated at senior levels in support of Mr Ng’s best interests and welfare and has sought consular access to Mr Ng. We will continue to do so,” the statement read.
“Australia has expressed our strong objections to the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities on the continuing broad application of national security legislation, including in application to Australian citizens.
“We call for China to cease suppression of freedoms of expression, assembly, media and civil society, consistent with the Human Rights Committee and Special Procedure recommendations, including the repeal of the National Security Law in Hong Kong.”
Yang Hengjun
In February this year, in China for espionage, something Hengjun and the Australian government have denied.
His condition has worsened during his time in detention, and in August, he was told by medical authorities they had discovered a 10cm cyst on his kidney.
But despite his deteriorating health conditions combined with harsh conditions in the detention centre, Hengjun and his family have decided not to launch an appeal for fear it may delay much-needed medical relief.
Call for action to free jailed Australians
Moore-Gilbert said more needs to be done about the imprisonments, especially at a time like Christmas.
“It’s pretty obvious that Robert Pether is a hostage in a financial dispute. You can’t really deny that he’s wrongfully or arbitrarily detained.
“Gordon Ng and Yang Hengjun have been advocating for democracy, and they’ve been thrown in prison because of their political beliefs.
“I think especially around Christmas, we should be thinking about the impact on the family as well … the ripple effect of these imprisonments on the family, particularly during these holidays — New Year, Christmas, birthdays, wedding anniversaries, it’s really traumatic and deep-rooted, and it continues even after the person comes home.”
SBS News has contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for comment.
