via Khmer Times, 24 April 2024: The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York has facilitated the return of 27 valuable Cambodian artifacts, totaling $2.4 million. This repatriation involves Buddhist and Hindu statues, including rare Angkorian pieces, thanks to the joint efforts of various Cambodian and US agencies. The artifacts, which had been held by art dealers involved in illegal antiquities trafficking, represent a significant cultural recovery for Cambodia. An exact date for their return has not been set as arrangements for further collection and transportation continue.
“The objects, which include several Angkorian Buddhist statues and Hindu statues, were seized from art dealers who are alleged to have used their galleries to offload smuggled and stolen antiquities,” he said.
“The repatriation of these 27 stunning relics to the people of Cambodia restores an important link between the nation’s classical Angkor era and its modern customs and beliefs that, for far too long, was disrupted by the greed of traffickers in stolen antiquities,” he said.
Touch made his remarks after Keo Chhea, Ambassador of Cambodia to the United States and Mexico, along with Mao Tithiarun, Deputy Permanent Representative of Cambodia to the United Nations and Charge affairs, and Colonel Matthew Bogdanos, Chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, together signed an official agreement to hand over 27 Cambodian antiquities at the Prosecutor’s Office in New York City last Friday.
Source: Precious antiquities on their way home from the US – Khmer Times
