[MSN] Italy-Getty. Hecht says competition precludes checks

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

May. 31, 2006

Hecht says competition precludes checks
MARTA FALCONI
Associated Press

ROME - An American art dealer accused by Italy of trafficking stolen
antiquities said Wednesday he has little incentive to check how artifacts
are acquired because of competitive pressure.

Robert Hecht, whose co-defendant is former J. Paul Getty Museum curator
Marion True, told reporters outside a Rome courthouse that competition from
other buyers meant he could not afford to ask sellers how items were
obtained.

Hecht, 86, who is based in Paris, also denied any wrongdoing in the case,
which Italy hopes will set a precedent that will help protect its ancient
heritage. He did not testify Wednesday.

Greece is pursuing similar efforts to reclaim its artifacts. True has agreed
to recommend to the Los Angeles museum's board to return ancient artifacts
that Greece claims were illegally spirited out of the country.

The Italian trial centers on 35 artifacts acquired by the museum between
1986 and the late 1990s - including bronze Etruscan pieces, frescoes and
painted Greek vessels.

Italian prosecutors accuse True and Hecht of knowingly dealing in stolen
artifacts. Both deny any wrongdoing.

Hecht told reporters he could not afford to ask too many questions about
artifacts.

"If somebody brings me an item in Germany, Switzerland, the United States
and says, 'I want to sell this,' and I tell him that I need to know its
origin, another thousand buyers are ready," Hecht said in Italian. "If I
don't buy, somebody else will. And they will put it in a basement where only
their friends can see it."

The Rome trial is part of a wider effort by Italian authorities to crack
down on antiquities trafficking and recover artifacts they contend were
illegally stolen or exported from Italy and sold to European and U.S.
museums.

At Wednesday's session, two officials of the paramilitary Carabinieri showed
the court documents, letters and photos that prosecutors contend bolster
their allegations that a network of experts and dealers trafficked in
illegally obtained antiquities.

Prosecutor Paolo Ferri told the court that the evidence presented Wednesday
proves the existence of a network of experts who tried to cover up the
illegal acquisition of the artifacts.

"We need to shed light on a world that for 40 years has permitted illegal
art trafficking" to flourish, he said.

Defense lawyers argued that the evidence produced Wednesday was not directly
connected to the allegations against their clients.

The next session was scheduled for June 21.

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