As Cambodian Statues Returned by US After Death of Latchford Is British Museum Next?
Inner City Press went and also want to ask about the role of the Panama Papers, but it was a ceremony, not a Q&A press conference. The UN and UNESCO weren't mentioned once: entirely useless.
By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell Book
BBC - Honduras - CIA Trial Book - NY Mag
SDNY COURTHOUSE, August 8 – The US on August 8 announced the repatriation and return to Cambodia of 30 Cambodian antiquities seized by the Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney’s Office, which held a ceremony which Inner City Press attended.
It wanted to ask if the Panama Paper held to track these antiquities, and if the British Museum, for example, is also repatriating looted heritage.
The Office noted all the pieces were sold to U.S. collectors and institutions by Douglas Latchford, who was indicted by our Office in 2019, for his lengthy involvement in illegal trafficking of looted Cambodian antiquities.
Among other items of cultural and historical significance displayed at the ceremony, held in the Office's second floor library which has a movie poster of "Molly's Game," was a 10th Century Khmer sandstone statue, Skanda on a Peacock. Video here.
Speaking at the ceremony was Keo Chhea, Cambodian Ambassador to the United States, who introduce his minister's video presentation which said Hun Sen has brought peace to the country. Peace through censorship? The ceremony had no mention at all of the United Nations much less its dubious UNESCO. We'll have more on this.
HSI’s Patel, photo by Matthew Russell Lee, Inner City Press
The (dropped) criminal case was US v. Latchford, 19-cr-748 (Torres)
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