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Former curator of Getty museum on trial for antiquities smuggling
Nov 27, 2007, 5:19 GMT
Athens - The former curator of Los Angeles' J Paul Getty Museum, Marion True, will go on trial for antiquities smuggling in Athens Tuesday.
True has been charged with illegally purchasing a 4th century gold funerary wreath and smuggling it out of Greece more than a decade ago, when she was antiquities curator for the museum.
The wreath, which was discovered during an illegal dig in an ancient Macedonian tomb in northern Greece, was sold to Getty officials for 1.15 million dollars in 1993.
The relic was returned to Greece in March. The trial was initially supposed to have taken place on November 20 but was postponed after True's lawyer asked for the case to be dismissed.
The American museum has been involved in an international art smuggling scandal since True was charged last year in Rome with conspiring to deal in looted antiquities.
Her lawyer in Athens, Ioannis Giannides, argued that she is accused of the same offense in another European country, Italy, and should not be required to defend similar charges in Greece as well.
Greece is currently cracking down on the illegal trade in ancient artifacts and has vowed to recover all objects proven to have been illegally smuggled out of the country.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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