Italian police break up antiquity crime gang
Professor Ana Filipa Vrdoljak, Professor, Faculty of Law UTS, joins Michael for talk about the Italian police breaking up an international crime gang that had been ransacking ancient sites in southern Italy and trafficked stolen archaeological goods worth millions of euros.
Conducting more than 80 searches across Italy, France, Britain, Germany and Serbia, 23 people were arrested and the authorities were able to recover over 10,000 archaeological items.
But while this case seems clear-cut as to the return of the antiquities to the rightful owner, it also raises the question whether long-standing museum items should be repatriated to their countries of origin.
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