British pensioner jailed for 15 years in Iraq antiquities case
An Iraqi court on Monday jailed a British retiree for 15 years for trying to smuggle antiquities he found on holiday, a judgement his family called “tantamount to a death sentence”.
His German co-defendant was acquitted.
The maximum penalty for the offence is death by hanging but the court decided on a lesser sentence for James Fitton, 66, “because of the advanced age of the accused,” the judge said.
Fitton’s lawyer said that he would appeal.