Ειδήσεις Ελλάδα
Comment on this story
Comment
The United States is returning 30 “looted antiquities” to Cambodia, among them Buddhist and Hindu religious statues and ancient artifacts, officials in New York said.
In a repatriation ceremony on Monday, Damian Williams, attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Ricky J. Patel, acting special agent in charge of homeland security investigations, handed over the intricate artifacts to the Cambodian ambassador to the United States, Keo Chhea. The envoy said they would be “cherished” and returned to the Southeast Asian nation from which they were stolen.
The items include artifacts from the Bronze Age to the 12th century, the attorney’s office said in a statement. Notable pieces being repatriated include a 10th-century sandstone sculpture of the Hindu god of war Skanda riding on a peacock and a monumental sculpture of Ganesha, a central Hindu and Buddhist deity; both were looted from the ancient Khmer capital, Koh Ker.
“Today, we celebrate the return of Cambodia’s cultural heritage to the Cambodian people, and reaffirm our commitment to reducing the illicit trafficking of art and antiquities,” Williams said.
The New York attorney’s office said the artifacts had been “stolen from Cambodia as part of an organized looting network” and that many were sold by antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford to collectors and museums in the United States.
Also known as “Pakpong Kriangsak,” Latchford was a Bangkok-based dealer who was charged in 2019 with wire fraud conspiracy and other crimes related to schemes to sell looted Cambodian antiquities on the international art market. The New York attorney’s office said this was largely done by creating fake provenance documents and falsifying invoices. Latchford died in 2020, and the indictment was dismissed.
The Cambodian ambassador said plundering priceless antiquities remained “a global problem,” which runs much deeper than one man and can involve “some of the world’s most prestigious places.”
“We are eager to welcome back home our precious cultural heritage,” he said, likening it to the “returning of the souls of our culture back to our people.”
Pandora Papers: Global hunt for looted treasures leads to offshore trusts
He thanked the United States for its “noble assistance” and urged art dealers and collectors to be more thorough in checking the provenance of international items.
“Each piece has a significant connection to our people, culture and our history,” he added. “We hope the world will now not only appreciate the beauty of these antiquities but also their spiritual meaning and cultural significance to the Cambodian people.”
According to Reuters, the items will go on display at the National Museum of Cambodia in the capital, Phnom Penh.
Civil conflicts in Cambodia between the 1960s and 1990s saw statues and other artifacts looted from Koh Ker and other archaeological sites. They were later sold on the international art market through organized networks. The items were generally smuggled over the Cambodia-Thailand border and transferred to brokers, who transferred them to dealers in Khmer artifacts in Bangkok to sell on.
“These antiquities we return today were ripped from their country,” Patel said. “Beyond their extraordinary beauty and craftsmanship, many are sacred artifacts pried from temples and palaces to be smuggled across borders and peddled by those seeking profit, without any regard to the intangible value they have to the people of their homeland.”
U.S. museums are trying to return hundreds of looted Benin treasures
In Britain, 72 artifacts “forcibly removed” by British soldiers in 1897 will be returned to the Nigerian government, London’s Horniman Museum announced earlier this week. Among them are 12 famed Benin bronzes, some of Africa’s most culturally significant artifacts.
Similar repatriations of art have been made by Germany and France, as Western countries grapple with the aftermath of colonialism and illegal removal.
