Irish Foreign Minister: Yasser Al-Jubouri returned to his homeland Ireland

Shafaq News / The Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin, announced on Wednesday that their compatriot "Iraqi-born" Yasser Al-Jubouri has safely returned to his home in Ireland after being detained in Iraq for days.

A report published by the "Irish Mirror" newspaper quoted the Irish Foreign Minister as saying, "I can tell you that he has arrived home in Ireland and has been reunited with his wife Laura and his three children. I met with Laura yesterday and she just texted me a photograph of Yasser arriving back; this was a joyous occasion for the family.."

He continued, "I am delighted for them because I could see yesterday meeting Laura, the extraordinary stress that this has placed on her and her family over the last 10 days, and the relief of knowing he was on his way home. We had our fingers crossed, we wanted to make sure he was back on Irish soil."

"I want to thank the Iraqi foreign minister, Fuad Hussein, whom I spoke with last week and who had contacted the prime minister's office. I rang again Sunday morning following the latest developments and he intervened also there."

Yasser al-Jubouri, an Irish citizen of Iraqi origins, is a prominent anti-corruption blogger and activist who frequently criticizes the Iraqi government.

The father-of-three was detained at Baghdad airport at about 2:30 am, and for most of the day, his family had no idea where he had been taken.

At a civil court hearing, according to a statement from his family, al-Jubouri was remanded in custody for another two days. Still, no explanation has been given for his continued detention.

Later, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani issued a directive to dismiss all legal cases filed against Al-Jubouri.

His family has launched a campaign entitled #FreeYasser, calling on the Iraqi authorities to release him.

His wife, Laura Wickham, a school principal from Dublin, told The Journal that the activist had visited his sick mother and his sister, who had also flown into Baghdad from the United States.

"He was supposed to fly home with Turkish Airlines through Istanbul, and he was checking in at about 2:30 am," Laura said. "I got a phone call from his brother at about three o'clock saying that he has been blocked and that they were not letting him out, and that I needed to contact the consulate immediately and put pressure on the Iraqi government and the Department of Foreign Affairs to make contact and get him out."

Yasser was traveling on the same Irish passport he had used to enter and leave Iraq without incident last September.