[CPProt.net] balkanalysis.com - Smugglers and Legends Complicate Fight againstAntiquities Theft (Part 1)

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 Smugglers and Legends Complicate Fight against Antiquities Theft (Part 1)

Posted on Wednesday, November 16 @ 05:00:00 EST by CDeliso   
    
   Since the following interview was conducted back in June, there have been
various developments in the area of the topic under consideration. However,
the reader will find here a detailed and fascinating discussion of the
general topic as it applies to the case of Macedonia. Part 2 of the story
follows tomorrow.

Despite being a tiny country, Macedonia has a very rich history of diverse
cultures and civilizations, dating back millennia. In fact, the observatory
at Kokino - heralded by NASA as the fourth most important such site in the
world.

As a fixed territory, Kokkino is staying put. But what about the millions of
little things, the discovered and mostly undiscovered artifacts and other
small treasures like ancient coins, jewelry, religious objects, weaponry and
statues?

A Moveable Feast

Unfortunately for the country and for scholars everywhere, these represent
something of a moveable feast for unscrupulous thieves and smugglers, who
have over the past 15 years removed many important artifacts from Macedonian
soil. There are over 4,000 known archaeological sites in Macedonia, of which
approximately 130 are officially protected by law. However, most are not
excavated, and doubtless there are many more waiting to be discovered.

Now the government is trying to do something about it. But as Ilce
Bojcevski, Macedonia's top cop for antiquities concedes, it's a tough job.
More often than not, the well-organized traffickers succeed, because of a
lack of preventative resources- chiefly, funds - available for his staff at
the CHPO (Cultural Heritage Protection Office) in Skopje. Further, a
long-awaited law that would enhance investigatory practices languishes in
parliamentary procedure, and is not expected to take effect until January 1,
2006.

In an interview with Balkanalysis.com, Mr. Bojcevski explained the
challenges facing counter-smuggling efforts, the methods used by smugglers
and the areas of the country hardest hit over the past few years.

The Scrupulous West's Secret Market

With the help of international police cooperation, his team focuses on the
market abroad - the high-paying collectors whose greed gives smugglers the
motivation to perform the difficult and sometimes dangerous work of
re-appropriating Macedonia's cultural heritage.

"There is a big auction market in countries like Switzerland, Austria and
Germany," says Bojcevski. "These are closed auctions- that is, open to a
very few rich private collectors who know that they are bidding for stolen
antiquities."

According to him, it's very difficult for the police and INTERPOL to find
these auctions, because they are organized in secret and varying locations.
"Every day we're working with the Ministry of Interior and INTERPOL," says
Bojcevski, "but it's difficult because the bad guys are very smart and
experienced."

According to Bojcevski, most of the thefts take place in Macedonia's most
culturally rich area- the south. Every empire that has taken root here over
the centuries - the ancient Macedonian, Roman, Byzantine, medieval Bulgar
and Ottoman - have had a strong presence in the south of the country. It was
always a major east-west trading route; the Roman Via Egnatia passed through
here.

A Trouble Spot: the Sunny Southeast

The latest "attacks," as Bojcevski calls them, have taken place in the
Dojran-Strumica areas of southeastern Macedonia. While he doesn't know for
sure how many attempted thefts are going on at any given moment, he suspects
the number right now to be around 40. "Most cases involve local people with
a criminal background," he says. "They are approached by well-organized
international gangs that know the real value of the goods on the closed
auction market in the West."

Since the majority of villagers in these areas work in agriculture, they are
familiar with vast stretches of land far from the roads. And, since it is
their job to dig in the earth anyway, in the case of finding some ancient
treasures the temptation to make some money from it is often too hard to
resist.

Who, aside from the local collaborators, is responsible for this
trafficking? Although a mafia exists, Bojcevski states, "from what we have
seen, it's not really the big drug smugglers. But they do sometimes include
some of our former 'freedom fighters'" - that is, ethnic Albanian criminals
who fought against the state in the 2001 war.

According to Bojcevski, the European antiquities smuggling mafia works with
its smaller Macedonian counterpart, which in turn works with locals to
unearth antiquities and then arrange transport. The foreign smugglers do
their research beforehand in textbooks and through the input of collectors,
in order to know what to search for and where they can find it.

International Collaborators and Local Offenders

Further, Bojcevski alleges, legitimate international antiquities societies
are often corrupt and secretly working the illegal market. As a specific
example he mentions a biannual fair for antiquities lovers, held in
Belgrade's Hotel Yugoslavia. While there are plenty of legally-procured
antiquities on display, "the collectors are also using this opportunity to
tell the smugglers what places in the region to 'hit,' and what treasures
they want from them next."

Macedonian authorities are working together with their Serbian counterparts
to fight this problem. The two countries have signed a convention for
regulating the import and export of antiquities. But the battle is
difficult, because the antiquities community is a tight one and very hard to
infiltrate.

This same problem occurs at home, says Bojcevski. He believes that Skopje's
few antiquities stores - publicly offering everything from gold coins of
Alexander the Great to World War II paraphernalia - have 'extra' collections
available to specific customers.

"While in the shops you see only legal things," he says, "there's always a
'back room' which is open to certain customers, where they keep the illegal
artifacts."

A Legal Impasse Prevents Antiquities Protection

Given his suspicions, why don't the police perform sting operations on the
dealers? According to Bojcevski, he can't, because the new antiquities law
has not yet come into effect. "The law is meant to enhance our investigative
procedures, but unfortunately it has been stuck in Parliament since last
July," he says. "We were supposed to have it by January 1, 2005, but there
were some holes- so they put it off for another year."

According to Bojcevski, "there is huge support in the Parliament [for the
law]. Only a few are against it - merely for political reasons."

The new law will also increase the funding for the CHPO. Currently,
complains Bojcevski, "we don't even have a Jeep. How can we go off-roading,
to where the important sites are, in a two-door car?"

While politicians and minister regularly promise more assistance, he claims,
their support tends to be merely 'decorative.'

Because of the lack of resources and blocked legislation, CHPO officers
usually arrive on the scene too late - after another treasure has been
stolen. "This is a real problem," sighs Bojcevski. "We do what we can. At
least with the known archaeological sites, we can hold regular inspections
and make sure that things are being done properly." 

Part 2 of this article will appear tomorrow. 

 

http://www.balkanalysis.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=591