[MSN] Australian faces fine over Angkor relics

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

An Australian tourist detained last week for allegedly stealing artefacts from Cambodia's famed Angkor temples will be fined after investigators determined today that he had bought the relics from a vendor.

Steven Doyle, of Sydney, was questioned for several hours by court officials in the temple gateway town of Siem Reap, court clerk Yin Srang said.

The 36-year-old was later charged with trying to take culturally significant artefacts out of Cambodia without authorisation.

Australian faces fine over Angkor relics

He told court officials he did not know it was illegal to take the three stone sculptures away, investigating judge Eang Kim Thol told AFP, adding that the court had yet to decide how much Doyle must pay.

"His act is illegal and he should be jailed, but to avoid difficulty, the court decided to fine him,'' Eang Kim Thol said, adding that Doyle's passport had been seized.

A second Australian also detained was freed after police determined he was not involved with the case.

Police arrested the pair on Friday after they were reported to police by hotel workers who had become suspicious of the sculptures.

Angkor Wat is Cambodia's most treasured landmark, and its biggest tourist draW

The country relies heavily on tourist dollars to shore up its flagging economy, which has been left in tatters by decades of war that ended in 1998.

Many of Cambodia's archaeological sites have been devastated by looting, but Angkor Wat has been reasonably well protected after a crackdown on tomb raiders.

http://www.smh.com.au