When Jim Fitton picked up pieces of pottery one day in March in Eridu, a Sumerian archaeological site dating back to 5,400 BCE in southeast Iraq, he was sure they held no economic or historical value as the guides had assured him that the fragments were worthless.

But what was supposed to be a regular organized geological and archaeological trip to the Middle East turned into the worst nightmare for the 66-year-old retired British geologist.

Fitton, originally from Bath and now based in Malaysia, was arrested at the Baghdad airport while he was attempting to leave the country on March 20. He has since been detained on suspicion of smuggling after 12 stones and shards of broken pottery were found in his luggage.

The statutory punishment for his alleged crime is execution, as he was charged under the Article 41 of the Iraqi Artifacts Law No. 55, which stipulates that excavating, digging or otherwise removing any antiquity or heritage material without expressed written permission from the Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage is an offense punishable by death.