With his blonde curls and polite smile, Morgan Belzic looks like he’s in his mid-twenties. In reality, she was over 30 a long time ago, but she prefers not to reveal her age because every year she plays with her students so that they can guess her. He is an archaeologist, researcher and professor at institutions such as the Louvre School, the University of Poitiers and the French National Institute of Art History. In 2016, he collected information for his doctoral thesis on the archaeological sites of Libya’s Mediterranean cities. During his search, he came across something unexpected: several of the pieces he was studying that should have been found in their original location were being sold in antique shops. I report. A few months later, he received the call from the FBI.
This is the beginning. The final chapter of this story was experienced this Friday in a hotel in Madrid in a symbolic act where these pieces were handed over to the Libyan Ambassador to Spain, Walid Abu Abdula. Two mosaics depicting Pyramus and Thisbe, the mythological Romeo and Juliet, a Hercules, other stones symbolizing spring… And also sculptures from a necropolis paying homage to a deceased young aristocrat and a torso with his head removed. A total of twelve works of art were looted from three locations in Libya, taking advantage of the instability that the country has experienced since 2011, following the fall of Gaddafi. And they weren’t stolen by any looters, but police believe the money from the illegal sale was used to finance the Islamic State. They were among the so-called “blood antiques”.
The archaeologist Morgan Belzic and the director of Libyan museums, Mohamed Alfaloos.Patricia Peiró Aso
It was the world’s first police operation to combat the financing of terrorism through the looting of works of art from areas under the control of terrorist groups. This source of income was a suspicion that could not be confirmed until this investigation. A Catalan gallery owner was arrested there who, according to the national police, “had built a network of suppliers around the world that gave him access to archaeological pieces from different civilizations.” The man had even participated in various academic forums on the destruction of the Middle East’s historical heritage by terrorist groups and even criticized those who acquired pieces from these areas. He is now accused of crimes such as terrorist financing, membership in a criminal organization, recording, smuggling and document falsification. The Spanish were just one of the branches into which the investigation was divided to track down the looted works, which also involved the FBI, which called Belzic that day. “It was a shock, even though they had warned me by email five minutes beforehand that they would call me,” he jokes.
“We have identified at least ten sculptures on this website that were for sale on the international market. From that moment until the start of the investigations in France and Spain, many of them had already been sold. “We have come to the conclusion that a third of Libya’s heritage has already been plundered,” emphasizes the professor. Two sites most affected are Apolonia and Cirene, necropolises in the northeast of the country. “I don’t work alone, but with other archaeologists around the world,” he emphasizes. After these initial investigations, several art experts work with the security forces to find all the lost heritage. “With the sale of Libyan grave sculptures alone, we estimate that the market was between 40 and 100 million euros. This means that the market is huge and there is a lot of work ahead of us,” says Belzic.
The provisional delivery of the pieces was ordered by the Spanish judiciary while awaiting trial before the National Court. For this reason, the works remain in the care of the Libyan embassy in Spain for now, in the hope that they can one day return home. This return has special significance for the plundered countries that witnessed terrorist and criminal groups moving through the chaos to strip them of their art and history. It is a common practice for art to appear at the beginning of the war. A few weeks ago, Spanish police seized a Ukrainian treasure worth 60 million euros that a priest had stolen from a church in 2016, shortly after the fight for the annexation of Crimea.
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Professor Walda Hafed was instrumental in certifying the provenance of these works. “You are unique! “This piece could not be found anywhere else in the world,” he exclaims, pointing to a grave bust. The expert believes that art is a fundamental element in “preserving Libyan identity.” And he emphasizes: “Something that is very important at this moment.” The area is currently divided into one area ruled by a United Nations-backed government and another under the command of a general.
MADRID, November 24, 2023. – Act of handover by the Spanish State to the Libyan Government of historical and archaeological pieces confiscated by the Spanish National Police, this Friday at the Hotel Intercontinental in Madrid. The event was attended by, among others, the Libyan Ambassador to Spain, Walid Abu Abdula, and the lawyer of the Libyan Embassy, Emilio Ramírez. EFE/ Rodrigo Jiménez Rodrigo Jimenez (EFE)
Professor Hafed is aware that returning these works to countries with such instability could raise suspicion, but in his opinion there is a “consensus” that the pieces should be in the hands of their rightful owners. “There are many challenges: the difficulty of locating the works, clearly establishing ownership, security and financing. But we hope that this law will pave the way for countries to regain what they have lost,” reflects Hafed. For the Director General of Museums and Archeology in Libya, Mohamed Alfaloos, this act represented a declaration of intent by his country to show that it wants to recover all lost works of art and “take measures to prevent traffickers from looting them.” Websites.”
If the trial takes place, for which there is no date yet, it will be the first step towards a final verdict that will allow the return of these works to Libya, which has already happened before. Balzic himself took part in the return of some sculptures to the Libyan Art Museum a few months ago. They were exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (USA) for 30 years. Those found in the private rooms of millionaires who purchase the works are the most difficult to recover. The African country’s heritage was already severely damaged by looting activities in the 1980s and 1990s.
This handover to Madrid for temporary safekeeping had such symbolic significance for the country that the event brought together a dozen ambassadors from Arab nations in Spain. Emilio Ramírez is the lawyer for the Libyan embassy and does not shy away from calling this act “historic”. “Other pieces have been recovered in other places, but never such a significant amount, both in terms of quantity and relevance,” he says. More will follow after that, as further investigations are underway in a dozen countries around the world to trace all the stolen artistic heritage, explains Belzic. Not all archaeologists are Indiana Jones, but none of them like art ending up in the hands of looters. They prefer being in a museum.
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