Phnom Penh [Cambodia],February 21: The Cambodian Ministry of Culture said on February 20 that dozens of precious items from the Angkor empire, including things that have never been seen by the public, were returned to Phnom Penh after appearing in London.
The stolen artifacts include crowns, necklaces, amulets and other treasures from the Angkor period, which lasted from the 9th to 14th centuries, when the Khmer empire was a dominant power. rule in Southeast Asia, according to AFP.
Cambodia's Ministry of Culture said officials had received back 77 items from the family of British antiques dealer Douglas Latchford.
Mr. Latchford died in 2020 while awaiting trial in the US for trafficking in artwork, and his family that same year reached an agreement with Cambodia to return his collection of Khmer antiquities.
The collection, which was shipped to Cambodia on February 17, features "gold and other precious metal items from the pre-Angkor and Angkorian periods, including crowns, necklaces, bracelets, belts, earrings and amulets. ", said the Cambodian Ministry of Culture.
During the Pol Pot genocide of the 1970s, thousands of antiques in Cambodia were stolen and sold to the wealthy as well as museums in Europe and the US, through brokers in Thailand and Hong Kong. Kong.
US prosecutors have pushed for the return of many artifacts in recent years. In 2021, Cambodia received back 5 items made of stone and copper from the Latchford family. Last year, the US returned to Cambodia 30 stolen antiquities, including statues of Buddhist bodhisattvas and Hindu deities cast from bronze and stone more than 1,000 years ago.
Cambodia's Culture Minister PhoeurngSackona called on individuals and museums around the world to return stolen antiquities to the country to help "reconcile and heal the wounds of the Cambodian people who have gone through so much. decade of civil war".
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper
