Iraq puts British and German men on trial for smuggling antiquities

The Criminal Court in Baghdad held a new session to try a British and a German man on charges of attempting to smuggle antiquities through Baghdad Airport.

The court held a session and heard the statements of the two accused.

According to a statement by the Supreme Judicial Council, the two accused, British geologist James Fitton (66 years) and German psychiatrist Volkar Waldmann (60 years), had been part of a tourist group since March 6, before they were arrested in Baghdad airport on March 20 after airport security found 12 artifacts, mostly ceramic and pottery breakers in their possession.

The judge said that the defendants, who attended the session wearing yellow uniforms, are being tried according to Article 41 of the Iraqi Heritage and Antiquities Law, which stipulates a penalty of up to the death penalty for "whoever deliberately removed archaeological material from Iraq or attempted to remove it."

The testimonies of witnesses in the case were read by the judge, including a customs officer and a customs employee who stated that they went to the exit hall on March 20 at Baghdad Airport after being informed by the security company concerned with inspecting bags through the X-ray machine that suspected antiquities had been found in the possession of travelers.

The judge, in the presence of an interpreter, first heard Waldmann, who lives in Berlin and only two antiquities were found in his bag.

In his statement, the accused denied that he took the two pieces, saying that Fitton gave them to him.

He also said that "there was no indication that these artifacts are antiquities and it is forbidden to take them."

He added, "When Fitton gave me the pieces, I put them in a transparent bag and left them in my bag in a visible way and did not try to hide them, so they appeared in the X-ray machine, and I was supposed to return them to him before we entered the airport."

Along with the other accused, 10 artifacts were found that were taken as well as other artifacts from two archaeological sites in the Dhi Qar Governorate in southern Iraq that date back to the Sumerian civilization.

"I did not realize that it was against the law to take these pieces," Fitton said in his testimony before the judge. "What puzzled me was that some sites had warnings, guards, and fences, and others were open."

He added that "the majority of the pieces" he took "were very small".

Officials from the British and German embassies attended the court hearing but did not release detailed public statements about the case to not interfere with the legal process.

The British Foreign Secretary Amanda Melling had previously considered the issue urgent and "our concerns have already been raised with the Iraqi authorities regarding the possible imposition of the death penalty in the Fitton case."

More than 50,000 people in Britain have signed a petition calling for Fitton's release.



PUKmedia