[CPProt.net] Palestinian jailed for stealing antiquities

[MusSecNetworkCulPropProtNet]

Palestinian jailed for stealing antiquities
Etgar Lefkovits, THE JERUSALEM POST 	Jan. 28, 2005

A Palestinian who stole antiquities from a Second Temple Jewish burial cave
on the outskirts of Jerusalem was sentenced to five months in jail by the
Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, the Antiquities Authority said.

The man, from the West Bank village of Bidu, was arrested by border
policemen earlier this month at the site of the first century caves, located
near the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina.

Three other suspects who were spotted looting from the graves fled the scene
and remain at large.

"Irreparable damage" was done to the site during the theft, the Antiquities
Authority said in a statement. Besides overturning human bones, the thieves
took burial boxes, cooking utensils and candles.

Some of the stolen goods were found in the suspect's possession, including
an ossuary.

The suspect, who confessed to the crime, had been remanded in custody
through the duration of his trial.

Judge Shulamit Dotan, who sentenced the suspect on Tuesday, said antiquities
thieves should be punished to the full extent of the law because of the
difficulty in catching them and because of the damage they cause to
archeological sites.

Amir Ganor, head of the Antiquities Authority's anti-theft division, said
approximately 300 archeology thefts take place in Israel annually, with the
value of illicit antiquities sales estimated to be millions of dollars.


http://www.jpost.com/