The shards were clearly visible when airport staff checked his luggage. The court noted that Fitton had made no attempt to hide the items at the airport. It also pointed out that the areas where he had picked up the pieces were unguarded.
#TASKER INTENT TRIAL#
He was arrested in March at Baghdad Airport and sentenced in June.ĭocuments posted to the judiciary website said the appeals court found that Fitton's trial judges had made mistakes and that key circumstantial evidence had been overlooked, including Fitton's unfamiliarity with local laws. Some of the pieces he picked up were no larger than a fingernail, he later told the criminal court. Many feared the incident would deter tourists from visiting Iraq, where the government hopes to grow the nascent tourism sector. The court "agreed with the justifications we drove in the memo against the sentence and how it was based on mistakes in the application of the law, and further, in the assessment of the evidence,” Soud told The Associated Press.įitton drew international attention last month after the conviction for picking up shards of pottery from an archeological site in southern Iraq. The decision was made on the basis of an appeal filed by Soud shortly after Fitton was convicted.įitton's release date was not immediately known, but Soud said pending paperwork, he should be freed soon. BAGHDAD - A retired British geologist sentenced to 15 years for antiquities smuggling in Iraq may soon go free after a Baghdad court overturned his conviction, his family and lawyer said on Tuesday.īaghdad's Court of Cassation, or appeals court, overturned the verdict against Jim Fitton, 66, last month, his lawyer Thair Soud told the Associated Press.
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