The wife of a man who has been released on bail after being held in jail in Iraq for more than four years has said her husband is "completely unrecognisable" following his detention.
Robert Pether was freed yesterday after being arrested in Iraq in April 2021 and later jailed on fraud charges.
The United Nations had described it as an arbitrary detention.
An Australian national, Mr Pether had been living with his wife, Desree Pether, in Elphin, Co Roscommon for a number of years.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Pether said her husband is "not well at all" and "really needs to just come home so he can get the proper medical care he needs".
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"It was a shock. It was hard to be very happy to see him but also to see the state of him.
"He's completely unrecognisable. It's a shock to the system to see how far he has declined," she said.
A mechanical engineer, Mr Pether had worked in the Middle East for almost a decade before taking on a rebuild of Iraq's Central Bank headquarters in Baghdad in 2015.
Towards the end of the project, a dispute arose between the bank and the company Mr Pether worked for - Dubai-based engineering firm CME Consulting.
It landed Mr Pether and his Egyptian engineer colleague Khalid Radwan in prison, after the bank accused the men of stealing money from the project.
In August 2021, the pair were sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay a $12m penalty.
Last year the International Chamber of Commerce's Court of Arbitration ruled that Iraq's central bank was at fault in the dispute with the company.
The Geneva-based UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention also investigated the case and referred it to the UN Special Rapporteur on torture.
Mr Pether's lawyer, Peter Griffin, said he spoke to him for 30 minutes yesterday evening and the "enormity" of what has happened to him has "begun to sink in."
Speaking to RTÉ's Drivetime, Mr Griffin affirmed that Mr Pether is "unrecognisable to the pictures that we will have seen in the press."
"He is emaciated, he's gaunt, he has aged many, many, many, more years than the four years that he's been in jail," Mr Griffin said.
"From a physical perspective, he's got a long road ahead of him to try and rehabilitate himself."
Ms Pether said her husband's detention had been a living nightmare every day, adding that the battle is not over yet.
"I feel like a bus has hit me. It all happened so late last night," Ms Pether said.
She added that her husband is still facing a travel ban in Iraq.
The travel ban may not be lifted for a few days, she explained, as it is the end of the working week in Iraq with Eid al-Adha being celebrated.
"We don’t know the exact stipulations on the travel ban but at least he’s out of the prison, and in a comfortable bed."
Ms Pether said trying to get her husband home has been "beyond frustrating".
"It has been a living nightmare every day. 18 hours a day, seven days a week," she said, adding that this development was a small step in the right direction.
Desree and Robert have three children who are all Irish citizens.
Ms Pether said that the children have spoken to their father since his release and are happy they can do so more freely now.
"We've still got another major battle ahead to get him home.
"Until he’s actually on the plane out of airspace and on his way, I don’t think we will breathe properly and let go of all the angst."
In a statement yesterday, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris said the development is "welcome news in what has been a long and distressing saga for Robert's wife, three children and his wider family and friends".
He thanked Irish diplomatic officials based in the region for their continued work on the case.
In a post on X last night, Mr Harris said "we will not rest" until they get Mr Pether "back home to Roscommon and to his family".
