{"id":16184,"date":"2022-05-22T18:54:48","date_gmt":"2022-05-22T18:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/iraq-trial-of-briton-and-german-for-antiquity-theft-adjourned"},"modified":"2022-05-22T19:18:43","modified_gmt":"2022-05-22T19:18:43","slug":"iraq-trial-of-briton-and-german-for-antiquity-theft-adjourned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/iraq-trial-of-briton-and-german-for-antiquity-theft-adjourned","title":{"rendered":"Iraq trial of Briton and German for antiquity theft adjourned"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>James Fitton and Volker Waldmann have been in custody since they were arrested on March 20 at Baghdad airport<\/p>\n

According to customs officers, Fitton\u2019s baggage contained 10 stone fragments, pieces of pottery or ceramics; Waldmann had two pieces, but denied they were his<\/p>\n

BAGHDAD: An Iraqi court on Sunday adjourned for two weeks the trial of a Briton and a German man accused of trying to smuggle antiquities after a defense lawyer called for more investigations.<\/p>\n

James Fitton, 66, a retired British geologist, and Volker Waldmann, 60, a Berlin psychologist, have been in custody since they were arrested on March 20 at Baghdad airport as they wound up their holiday.<\/p>\n

According to statements from customs officers and witnesses, Fitton\u2019s baggage contained 10 stone fragments, pieces of pottery or ceramics. Waldmann allegedly had two pieces, but denied they were his.<\/p>\n

The two men did not know each other before they traveled to Iraq on an organized tour, and both say they had no intention of breaking the law.<\/p>\n

The trial was adjourned until June 6 to allow time for further investigations, at the request of Waldmann\u2019s defense lawyer, Furat Kuba.<\/p>\n

During initial investigations, \u201ccertain important aspects were not examined,\u201d Kuba said, citing the report of an expert committee that said the fragments found with the men were antiquities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have any more details: what site do these pieces come from? What era, what civilization do they date back to?\u201d Kuba asked, adding there were also outstanding questions relating to the site where the fragments were collected.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it fenced and protected?\u201d Kuba asked. \u201cAre there signs indicating that these are ancient pieces that it is forbidden to collect?\u201c<\/p>\n

Kuba said he wanted the tour guide or an Iraqi official who had been present at the site to give evidence in court as to whether the tourists had received instructions prohibiting them from picking up fragments.<\/p>\n

Their trial comes with the war-ravaged country, whose tourism infrastructure is almost non-existent, timidly opening to visitors.<\/p>\n

Iraq has also been trying to recover antiquities that were looted over a period of decades from the country whose civilization dates back thousands of years.<\/p>\n

The judge told the accused they were charged under a 2002 law which provides for sentences up to the death penalty for those guilty of \u201cintentionally taking or trying to take out of Iraq an antiquity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fitton, at the start of the trial, when asked why he tried to take the artefacts out of Iraq, cited his \u201chobby,\u201d saying he was interested in \u201cgeology and ancient history and archaeology,\u201d and was not aware that taking the fragments was illegal.<\/p>\n

Waldmann has denied the pieces allegedly found in his luggage were his, but they belonged to Fitton.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. James Fitton and Volker Waldmann have been in custody since they were arrested on March 20 at Baghdad airport According to customs officers, Fitton\u2019s baggage contained 10 stone fragments, pieces of pottery or ceramics; Waldmann had two pieces, but denied they were his BAGHDAD: An Iraqi court on Sunday adjourned for two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":16183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,9],"tags":[6557,2355,2361,260,6558],"class_list":["post-16184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-miscellaneous","tag-adjourned","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-gambia","tag-iraq"],"yoast_head":"\nIraq trial of Briton and German for antiquity theft adjourned - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"James Fitton and Volker Waldmann have been in custody since they were arrested on March 20 at Baghdad airport According ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/iraq-trial-of-briton-and-german-for-antiquity-theft-adjourned\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Iraq trial of Briton and German for antiquity theft adjourned\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"James Fitton and Volker Waldmann have been in custody since they were arrested on March 20 at Baghdad airport According ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/iraq-trial-of-briton-and-german-for-antiquity-theft-adjourned\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-22T18:54:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-22T19:18:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2022\/05\/img-628a8c74a0e33.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"731\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"538\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/iraq-trial-of-briton-and-german-for-antiquity-theft-adjourned#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/iraq-trial-of-briton-and-german-for-antiquity-theft-adjourned\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Iraq trial of Briton and German for antiquity theft adjourned\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-22T18:54:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-22T19:18:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/iraq-trial-of-briton-and-german-for-antiquity-theft-adjourned\"},\"wordCount\":472,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/iraq-trial-of-briton-and-german-for-antiquity-theft-adjourned#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2022\/05\/img-628a8c74a0e33.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"adjourned\",\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"Gambia\",\"Iraq\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/iraq-trial-of-briton-and-german-for-antiquity-theft-adjourned#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/iraq-trial-of-briton-and-german-for-antiquity-theft-adjourned\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/iraq-trial-of-briton-and-german-for-antiquity-theft-adjourned\",\"name\":\"Iraq trial of Briton and German for antiquity theft adjourned - 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