Kincardine dad freed from Iraqi prison freed and heading home

Brian Glendinning, 43, a construction worker, was contracted to work at a BP oil refinery in Iraq. But on September 12, Mr Glendinning was arrested on an Interpol red notice from Qatar at Baghdad airport over an alleged debt owed to the Qatari National Bank.

Announcing his release, Radha Stirling, founder of the Interpol and Extradition Reform (Ipex) initiative, said she was “thrilled” at the news, adding: “Mr Glendinning’s lawyer Tahseen Alchaabawi gave us the good news this morning. It was an emotional moment for his family and I couldn’t be happier for the Glendinnings.”

Ms Stirling said Mr Glendinning’s family are arranging flights and it is hoped he could be home within days. However, Ms Stirling said Qatar had not confirmed if the Interpol red notice had been removed, so there could still be a risk that Mr Glendinning could be arrested on his way back to Scotland.

She added a class action lawsuit will now be launched against Interpol for what Ipex says is a “consistent and repetitive” abuse of power.

In 2017 Mr Glendinning, who is married with three children and one granddaughter, was sentenced in his absence to two years in prison for defaulting on a debt. He had agreed to take out a £20,000 loan with his bank in Qatar while working in Doha in 2016, but was not able to keep up full repayments when he lost his job.

He had been made redundant in 2017, while on sick leave at home in Scotland, but had kept in touch with the bank not realising he had been convicted of a crime. He only discovered the arrest warrant meant he was on an Interpol red list when he was detained at Basra airport in September.

It is understood that last week, the bank which is owed the money issued a clearance note stamped by the authorities in Qatar saying they no longer wanted him extradited.

Today Mr Glendinning's brother John told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme the conditions in the Iraqi prison were "vile".

He said: "Brian was held in a holding cell with up to 44 people - a mixture of terrorists, drug dealers, people who murdered their own father, using a shotgun. And there was Brian Glendinning, never missed a day of school and arguably on a civil case and held in those conditions.

"The welfare was extremely low. Bottles of water were kept where rats were visible crawling over them. Brown water out the taps for the shower and food was very poor."

Mr Glendinning said that his brother has been picked up by British embassy staff and was now in a secure hotel.

"He's in the hotel. I've seen a photo of him with a beer and I'm so happy he's free."

A crowdfunding appeal set up by his desperate family has raised almost £31,000 towards legal fees.

A spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Development office confirmed it was providing consular support to Mr Glendinning.