A billionaire family in the United States will return more than 30 looted ancient artefacts to Cambodia after agreeing it “wrongfully possessed” the treasures, the Cambodian government said.
Years of civil war followed by the genocidal Khmer Rouge rule saw historical sites looted with near-impunity in Cambodia.
Many of the pieces are thought to date back to the Khmer Empire, a once-mighty dynasty that sprawled across much of modern-day Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos between the ninth and 15th centuries.
A trove of stolen artefacts has been sent back to Cambodia in recent years from Western museums and private collectors.
Now, 33 items from the Lindemann private collection will be “voluntarily” returned to Cambodia, its ministry of arts and culture said yesterday.
The move “sets an excellent and proper example for other museums and private collectors ... to follow and return our national treasures,” Minister of Culture and Fine Arts Phoeurng Sackona said.
The artefacts include a reclining Vishnu and Ardhanarishvara sculpture –believed to be from the remote ancient city of Koh Ker – which witnesses say was looted in the 1990s, according to the official statement.
“Having purchased these items from dealers that we assumed were reputable, we were saddened to learn how they made their way to the market in the United States,” The New York Times quoted the Lindemann family as saying. — AFP
