Prison for culture theft
Güncelleme Tarihi:
UŞAK - The former director of the Uşak Museum was sentenced on Friday to serve 12 years and 11 months in prison for dereliction of duty and misappropriation of an antique brooch that went missing in 2006.
One accomplice received 12 years and six months in prison while eight others were sentenced to jail terms between 10 months and most than six years. The police learned that the brooch, part of a 2,500-year-old collection called the Karun Treasure, was replaced by a fake and that the director was in contact with the alleged thieves.
The embarrassment over the theft in Uşak was compounded by the fact that the famed collection was repatriated only in 1993 after a legal battle with New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art that reportedly cost Turkey $40 million. The scandal came at a time when security at Turkish museums was under fire after a series of thefts, which have sounded the alarm over Turkey's ability to protect its heritage.