Charges against Irish citizen detained in Iraq are dropped
Anti-corruption activist Yasser Eljuboori with his wife Laura Wickham. Picture: Laura Wickham
Charges against an Irish citizen who was detained by police in Iraq earlier this week as he prepared to board a flight back to Ireland have been dropped.
Yasser Eljuboori, 37, had been held by police in Baghdad since he attempted to board a flight out of the Iraqi capital on Monday. He had spent a week in Iraq visiting his ill mother.
Mr Eljuboori is a renowned anti-corruption activist who has tens of thousands of followers on various social media platforms. He has frequently criticised corruption in the government of Iraq.
According to the London-based law firm Doughty Street Chambers, which is representing Mr Eljuboori, he appeared before a court in Baghdad this morning, when the charges against him were dropped. He was subsequently released on bail.
However, Doughty Street Chambers said Iraqi authorities have retained his passport, and that “two or three days of paperwork” must be completed before he is given permission to leave the country and return to his family in Dublin.
In a statement, Mr Eljuboori’s wife, Laura Wickham, said there is “still a long road ahead to bring Yasser home to us”.
“I call on the Iraqi authorities to return Yasser’s passport urgently, end this ordeal, and allow him to return home," she said.
Mr Eljuboori came to Ireland 16 years ago. He met Ms Wickham 13 years ago and they married eight years ago. They have three children, the eldest having just started primary school.
Ms Wickham also thanked Tánaiste Micheál Martin and the Department of Foreign Affairs for their efforts to “keep the pressure up and make clear to the Iraqi authorities that this case is not over until Yasser is safely home in Ireland”.
On Wednesday, the Tánaiste said his department was using “all the tools at our disposal” to assist Mr Eljuboori, and that Irish diplomats have been in contact with Iraqi authorities since Monday.
My statement on the case of Irish citizen Yasser Eljuboori. pic.twitter.com/WpJZMb8qvH
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) February 29, 2024
On Thursday, Mr Martin welcomed the dropping of the charges against Mr Eljuboori and said he hoped the day’s developments would "go some way towards alleviating the stress they have been experiencing, but I understand that their deep worry will not ease until the moment they are reunited with Yasser in Dublin".
The Tánaiste also said he had spoken to Iraq’s deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister, Dr Faud Hussein, about Mr Eljuboori’s case.
“Dr Hussein subsequently advised me that he had raised the case at the highest level and was confident that Mr Eljuboori would be released following the waiving of the charges against him.”
Doughty Street Chambers barrister Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, counsel for Ms Wickham, said the last few days had been "agonising" for Mr Eljuboori and his family.
"He should never have been arrested, detained, or charged in the first place, and his family should never have been put through this ordeal," she said.
"We have asked the Irish Government and the Department of Foreign Affairs, the European Union External Action Service, and the United Nations Special Procedures to seek urgent assurances from the Iraqi authorities that Yasser will face no further impediments and will finally be allowed safe passage from Baghdad."
Ms Gallagher said that risks to Mr Eljuboori will continue while he remains in Iraq and that it is "imperative that the Iraqi authorities know the world will continue to watch their actions until Yasser lands safely in Dublin airport".
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