[CPProt.net] Getty curator faces accusers

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Getty curator faces accusers

Tracy Wilkinson 

Friday, November 18, 2005

Looking drawn and subdued, Marion True, the former antiquities curator of
the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, was whisked into a courtroom in Rome to
face charges of illegally trading in stolen artifacts.
Her first appearance in a much- watched trial came as something of a
surprise as the proceedings were largely technical and her presence was not
required. But her attorneys have been encouraging her to attend as a show of
respect for the Italian judiciary.

True sat stony-faced in the courtroom for nearly four hours. 

The trial - a product of a decade- long probe by Italian authorities - has
revived questions over how the world's leading museums acquire antiquities. 

For years, authorities have suspected that smugglers and disreputable art
dealers were working with top curators to traffic in artifacts looted from
archeological digs in Italy, Greece and elsewhere.

True's trial marks a rare prosecution of an official of an institution as
prestigious as the Getty. The museum itself was not indicted.

True, 56, is accused of criminal conspiracy to receive stolen goods and
illicit receipt of archaeological items.

Italian authorities have identified 42 allegedly looted objects, including
ancient Roman statues and Greek vessels, currently or at one time in the
Getty's possession. 

True, who has maintained her innocence, was forced out of her curator's job
last month after revelations that she bought a Greek villa with financial
help from an antiquities dealer. 

Two associates of True's also have been charged. Co-defendant Robert Hecht,
86, a Paris-based American art dealer, did not appear in court on his
attorney's advice. The third defendant, Italian art dealer Giacomo Medici,
was convicted in December and is appealing a 10-year sentence. Italian
authorities say the True case is the beginning of a wider campaign to
recover illegally excavated objects from several US museums, including the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The Getty last week returned three
pieces to Italy.

Prosecutors say the trial, which began in July, could last a year. LOS
ANGELES TIMES