A distraught Fife woman is pleading with authorities to intervene and save her brother from the death penalty in Iraq over smuggling charges.
Ruth Zuccarello, 68, said she fears seeing the name Jim Fitton appear on Amnesty International’s list of executions abroad.
The pensioner, who lives in Kirkcaldy, believes her family has been badly let down by the Foreign Office as officials in Baghdad prepare to hold a trial on Sunday.
The Iraqi working week ends on a Thursday so his loved ones have limited time to intervene before offices close over Friday and Saturday.
The UK Government has come under increasing pressure to help free Mr Fitton, a father-of-two and retired geologist who now lives in Malaysia with his wife, Sarijah.
What has Jim Fitton been accused of?
The 66-year-old, originally from Bath in Somerset, has been detained in Iraq for five weeks after being accused of attempting to smuggle historic artefacts out of the country.
His family say he collected stones and shards of broken pottery as souvenirs while visiting a site in Eridu, in the country’s south-east, as part of an organised geology and archaeology tour.
They say he was assured they had no economic or historical value and the fragments were in the open with no signage warning against removal.
I don’t want to see my brother on an Amnesty International list.”
Ruth Zuccarello
However, the items were judged to be artefacts under Iraqi law and the charge levelled at Mr Fitton sates “whoever exported or intended to export, deliberately, an antiquity, from Iraq, shall be punishable with execution”.
Ms Zuccarello told us the situation as “horrifying”.
“This is a case of gross injustice and we need the Foreign Office to recognise that,” she said.
“I really implore them to just cut through all their bureaucracy so we can get this case resolved.”
She added: “It can be resolved, and it can be resolved easily, without them really interfering in the judicial system in Iraq. No one has to lose face.
“Because otherwise we as a family are going to live through a horrific tragedy.”
Foreign Office urged to do more
The family’s lawyer drafted a proposal under Iraqi law to have the case closed before trial.
But they need the Foreign Office to “put their weight behind the plan and endorse it” to secure a high-level meeting with judicial officials.
More than 113,000 people have signed a petition launched by Mr Fitton’s family, calling on the Foreign Office “to do everything they can to save his life and bring him home”.
Officials say they have been providing support since he was arrested in March but cannot interfere in the legal systems of other countries.
The British Government’s policy on the death penalty is clear. We oppose it in all circumstances, as a matter of principle.”
Foreign Office spokesman
Ms Zuccarello expressed her gratitude to those who have already signed the petition and urged others to do the same.
“Retirement came to both of us more or less at the same time and I was so looking forward to that because lives can converge again in retirement,” she said.
“I don’t want to see my brother on an Amnesty International list.
“I urge speed and I urge people to sign.”
Foreign Secretary response slammed
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath MP Neale Hanvey has taken up the case directly with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
The Alba MP wrote twice to Ms Truss over the May weekend by email but said he has not yet received a response.
“This is a man who believed he was acting lawfully and sought reassurance that this was indeed the case,” Mr Hanvey said.
“That he could be executed far from home in such circumstances without any meaningful attempt by the UK Government to intervene is truly chilling.”
Mr Hanvey described the response from the foreign secretary as “not good enough”.
“Surely there can be no more important a function of her office than to prevent injustice abroad,” he said.
“The washing of hands to any responsibility for a UK citizen in peril abroad is both a moral and political failure of enormous proportions.
“Time is of the essence and the foreign secretary must act, and act swiftly, if she is to help save Jim’s life and bring him home to his loved ones”.
A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed it is “providing consular support to a British national in Iraq and are in contact with the local authorities”.
He added: “The British Government’s policy on the death penalty is clear.
“We oppose it in all circumstances, as a matter of principle.”
