Australian engineer imprisoned in Iraq pleads to Scott Morrison for help

Australian engineer Robert Pether has penned a handwritten note to Scott Morrison from his Iraqi jail cell, pleading for the prime minister to intervene and warning he is effectively being held hostage.

Pether has been behind bars for almost eight months after being lured to Iraq and arrested in relation to a dispute between his firm and the Central Bank of Iraq over the construction of its new Baghdad headquarters.

In August, Pether was sentenced to five years in an Iraqi jail and fined $US12m over allegations his firm, CME Consulting, spent money that should have gone to an architect and a subcontractor.

The sentence devastated his Ireland-based family, including his wife, Desree, and three children, who say Pether has been punished for what is effectively a contractual dispute that belongs in civil courts.

The initial charges against him, he wrote, were disproven easily within 24 hours, but he and his colleague were held regardless. The new charges against him were only made clear when he got to his hearing.

Pether said he was only permitted to meet with his lawyers four months after his arrest and three days before his hearing.

Pether said his legal team was denied access to documents that would have disproven the case against him.

Desree Pether said her husband feels abandoned by Australia. She said her husband has lost 30kg while in custody and fears for his health, given he had a melanoma previously and is now long overdue for a skin check.

The Australian foreign minister, Marise Payne, has previously raised the case with the Iraqi government.