Iraq court jails Briton over smuggling artifacts
June 6, 2022
The Baghdad Criminal Court on Monday sentenced a UK citizen to 15 years in prison on charges that he attempted to steal artifacts and take them out of Iraq.
The sentence was handed to retired geologist Jim Fitton in a case that has garnered widespread attention.
Found to have criminal intent
Iraqi authorities arrested Fitton at Baghdad International Airport in March for carrying small fragments of ancient pottery in his luggage. He had been on an expedition touring the country's ancient sites.
A total of 32 artifacts were found in four pieces of luggage belonging to a tourist group, mostly that belonging to Fitton.
He picked up the items in question on a group tourism expedition to Eridu, an ancient Mesopotamian site in southern Iraq.
Fitton said that, as a geologist, he had a habit of collecting such fragments as a hobby but had no intention of selling them.
However, Judge Jabir Abd Jabir did not consider defense lawyer Thair Soud's arguments based on Fitton's ignorance of Iraqi law and the apparently low value of the items.
The judge found that by removing the items and intending to transport them out of the country, Fitton had criminal intent to smuggle them.
Possible penalty of hanging
While his own defense lawyer expressed shock that the sentence had not been more lenient, the 66-year-old Fitton could have faced a potential death penalty.
The maximum penalty for the offense is death by hanging. However, the court reduced the sentence "because of the advanced age of the accused."
Fitton's lawyer Soud has said he intended to appeal the case.
The court said there was "insufficient evidence" to convict Fitton's 60-year-old co-accused German tourist Volker Waldmann. It found that he did not have criminal intent.
Waldman's legal team said he had been carrying the pieces for Fitton but did not pick them up from the site.
Fitton's family brought the case to international attention when they started a petition that has garnered more than 100,000 signatures.
The family accused the UK Foreign Office of inaction. Britain's Baghdad diplomatic mission has not commented on its involvement.
rc/fb (AFP, Reuters, AP)