Jim Fitton was jailed for 15 years after collecting 12 stones and fragments of broken vessels as souvenirs from a trip to an ancient site in Eridu. The 66-year-old was arrested at Baghdad airport in March when the broken ceramics were found in his luggage. Mr Fitton was on an organized geological and archaeological tour and his family said he asked an experienced guide if he could take the items home. Iraqi officials later claimed that the objects could be considered archaeological pieces as they were more than 200 years old. Mr Fitton said he “suspected” the objects were ancient fragments, but said there was no signage at the site or information informing him that their acquisition was against the law. He was initially held in an airport detention center after his arrest and has been in an Iraqi prison since the second week of June. Image: Selection of confiscated stones A German tourist, Volker Waldmann, had been arrested with him but was released after he said the shrapnel found in his luggage had been given to him by Mr Fitton to carry. Mr Fitton lives in Malaysia with his wife, Sarijah. His daughter Leila Fitton, 31, and her husband Sam Tasker are based in Bath. They said they are “over the moon” after hearing it has now been cleared. Tasker, 27, said in a statement: “For the first time since March 20, Leila, Josh, Sarijah and I are smiling without irony. Pictured: Fitton with his wife, Sarijah, and their two children Joshua and Leila “We were informed this morning that the appeals court has decided to overturn the felony court verdict, fully recognize Jim’s innocence in this case and process his immediate release from his 15-year prison sentence in Baghdad. “We understand this process is ongoing – he is still in prison this evening but will be released soon. “We won’t be doing any press interviews or detailing the situation until he gets home as we don’t want to rub the wrong teams or put him at risk. “Once he comes home, we will celebrate and take some time to come together as a family and be happy to tell the story to anyone who will listen.” Mr Tasker said the family “expect to be home by the end of the week”, although a timetable remains unclear. Wera Hobhouse, Lib Dem MP for Bath, hailed the “fantastic development”. “It is impossible to imagine the stress that Jim and his family have endured over the last few months,” he said. Image: The memorabilia was collected from a site in Eridu, southeastern Iraq “Jim and his family have shown incredible strength and should be extremely proud of the part they played in pressuring the Government to act. This has been an incredibly worrying time and the Government should consider how to improve the way which they correspond to in these cases.the first case. “This is testament to the hard work of the consulate team, Foreign Office officials and, of course, Jim’s family.” A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are providing consular assistance to a British national in Iraq and are continuing to support his family. We are in contact with the local authorities.”
