Australian museum to return stolen Cambodian artefacts

[geovalin]

Australia's national gallery will return three 9th and 10th Century bronze sculptures to Cambodia, after they were found to be stolen. It follows a decade-long investigation carried out by the two countries to determine the origin of the works. Cambodia's government welcomed the historic move as "an important step towards rectifying past injustices". It comes amid a global push to return looted cultural goods.

 

The three artworks originally came from the Champa Kingdom that once inhabited Vietnam and parts of Cambodia. The National Gallery of Australia (NGA) says it purchased the sculptures in 2011 for A$2.3m (£1.18m; $1.5m) from British artefacts smuggler Douglas Latchford - who died in 2020.

 

Mr Latchford has been implicated in the illegal trade of antiquities since 2016 according to the NGA, with charges laid against him in 2019 relating to the alleged trafficking of stolen and looted Cambodian artefacts.

 

read more https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-66368076

 

 

[anyone]

I'm waiting for the French thieves to return the loot ????