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It is being reported that "negotiations" in the US about the fate of the Ka Nefer Nefer mask have failed (Rick St Hilaire, 'Failed Negotiations Put Ka Nefer Nefer Forfeiture Case Back on the Docket', Wednesday, April 17, 2013) and the case will proceed to litigation. It is unclear what precisely it was that SLAM were trying to "negotiate" with the Egyptian authorities and whether or not in the circumstances they were acting in good faith or just stalling as a legal tactic. So the hunt is on again for traces of the network of dealings that led to this object leaving Egypt and ending up in the USA and to resolve the many open questions that still remain. What is the truth? Chances are we are more likely to get closer to it if the case goes through the scrutiny of a court than if its fate was determined by some back-door deal. What is notable is (I stand to be corrected on this) an apparent total lack of comment from the dealers that supplied the object to the museum. I assume they have been following the developments of this case and have an opinion on the matter.
Vignette: The PACHI 'honk if you hate heritage thieves' bumper sticker
It is being reported that "negotiations" in the US about the fate of the Ka Nefer Nefer mask have failed (Rick St Hilaire, 'Failed Negotiations Put Ka Nefer Nefer Forfeiture Case Back on the Docket', Wednesday, April 17, 2013) and the case will proceed to litigation. It is unclear what precisely it was that SLAM were trying to "negotiate" with the Egyptian authorities and whether or not in the circumstances they were acting in good faith or just stalling as a legal tactic. So the hunt is on again for traces of the network of dealings that led to this object leaving Egypt and ending up in the USA and to resolve the many open questions that still remain. What is the truth? Chances are we are more likely to get closer to it if the case goes through the scrutiny of a court than if its fate was determined by some back-door deal. What is notable is (I stand to be corrected on this) an apparent total lack of comment from the dealers that supplied the object to the museum. I assume they have been following the developments of this case and have an opinion on the matter.
Vignette: The PACHI 'honk if you hate heritage thieves' bumper sticker
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4 comments:
I don't understand St. Hilaire's post. The Government sought to litigate the matter, but their action was dismissed, and the court also denied a motion for reconsideration. The matter is now being appealed. The appeals court will decide whether the mattter is to be litigated on the merits or whether the trial court's decision will stand based on the pleadings filed at the time not any further "research."
Can you provide a reference to that dismissal? My recollection is that the process was suspended as the sides had agreed to try to settle out of court. Was that not the case? If the court had actually "dismissed" the government's claim, what do you imagine these "negotiations" concerned?
see my post here - so is this wrong, Mr T.?
http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2012/10/slam-belatedly-decides-to-do-decent.html
Never heard back from that "Moneyjihad" xenophobe.
See http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2012/06/government-stikes-out-yet-again-against.html
Its SOP to try to settle cases when they go on appeal. Here, there evidently wers some discussions in that regard, but they failed so the appeal will go forward. Nothing is being litigated at this point. What will be decided is whether the dismissal was proper or whether the case goes back to the trial court to be litigated.
Mr. St. Hilaire has a criminal prosecution background, and sometimes his terminology seems off to me. Perhaps this is the reason. There are some significant differences between our civil and criminal systems.
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