[CPProt.net] Canadian on trial in China for allegedly smuggling fossils

[Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)]

May 13, 2005


Canadian on trial in China for allegedly smuggling fossils

Friday, May 13, 2005 Updated at 1:03 AM EDT

Associated Press
 
 Shanghai - A Canadian man is on trial in Shanghai on charges of illegally
smuggling dinosaur fossils overseas, the Shanghai prosecutor's office said
Friday.

Pascal Barre's trial was held Thursday and a verdict is expected within one
month, said Wu Yaohong, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office's first
division, which handles cases involving foreigners.

Mr. Wu said Mr. Barre was arrested along with his Chinese wife, Wei Muhong,
after Chinese customs officers in November seized eight dinosaur fossils the
couple was allegedly attempting to mail to the United States.

Mr. Wu gave no details of the trial or the specific charges against Mr.
Barre.

However, the newspaper Shanghai Daily said Mr. Barre blamed the smuggling on
Ms. Wei, claiming he had no knowledge of her dealings with fossil
traffickers. Ms. Wei is expected to go on trial after giving birth to the
couple's child this month, newspaper reports said.

A spokeswoman for the Canadian Consulate said diplomats had met with Mr.
Barre several times, but had no other details on the case.

It wasn't clear what penalties Mr. Barre and Ms. Wei might face.

While prosecutors said it is illegal to ship such fossils overseas, Mr.
Barre's lawyer was quoted as saying that it wasn't clear whether the fossils
were even protected under antiquities laws.

"There is no clear legal interpretation spelling out that ancient animal
fossils are antiquities," Xu Qing was quoted as saying by the newspaper
China Daily.

Reports said authorities began an investigation after receiving a tip-off
that dealers were shipping fossils to Shanghai. Mr. Barre and Ms. Wei were
identified after police observed them visiting an antique shop used by a
gang trafficking in fossils.

Shanghai Daily said the couple purchased 38 small and two large fossils for
40,000 yuan or the equivalent of about $6,000. They posted pictures of eight
of the fossils on the Internet and shipped them after receiving payment of
about $3,300 from an American buyer identified only as David, Beijing Daily
said.

The reports identified the fossils as those of adult keichousaurus, a small
marine dinosaur that lived in ancient China during the Triassic period,
roughly 245 million to 208 million years ago.

China Daily said the couple began selling a variety of fossils on the
Internet two years ago. Authorities identified five regular customers in
Britain and the United States, but don't plan to take legal action against
them, it said.

It wasn't clear how much the couple had earned from their business. China
Daily said Ms. Wei was found to have several bank accounts containing more
than $22,000, almost all of which was confiscated by the court.