Restitution of Artefacts to Iran by Belgium

An appellate court in Liège, Belgium has passed the final verdict in favour of the restitution of the contents of nine boxes of artefacts looted from a 3000-year-old ancient site near the village of Khorvin, 80 kilometers northeast of the Iranian capital, Tehran. The 300-piece collection had been smuggled by a French woman to the Belgian city of Ghent almost 50 years ago.

In 1965, a French woman married to an Iranian professor, with the help of a Belgian diplomat, began smuggling the antiques to Belgium, according to Iranian media. Iran filed a lawsuit in 1981, as soon as the authorities were informed that the collection is located in Belgium. The Court of First Instance rejected the suit twice — in 1998 and 2012 — claiming that the case is too old to be considered. However, Iranian officials decided to bring the case to the Belgian Court of Appeal.

The name of the woman is not given, but presumably must be in court records, as should the name of the culture-thieving Belgian diplomat stationed in Iran. Perhaps these names should be made public. What else did the diplomat 'liberate'?

Also being sent back was an ancient pin stolen in December 2002 from the European tour of “7000 Years of Persian Art” during its run at St. Peter's Abbey in Ghent.

MP/KA/HRB, 'Belgium to return smuggled ancient Iranian heritage' PressTV.Ir Tue Dec 23, 2014 

'The Belgian Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the restitution of an ancient Iranian artifact collection', Sputnik 24.12.2014.