Enlarge image
The two accused on the way to the courthouse: The British traveler should go to prison for 15 years
Photo: Hadi Mizban / dpa
In Iraq, a German has been acquitted in a trial about alleged antiquities smuggling.
When the verdict was announced in a criminal court in the capital Baghdad on Monday, it was said that there was "insufficient evidence" against the 60-year-old Berliner.
His co-defendant, a 66-year-old Briton, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Antique stone fragments and ceramics were found in the baggage of the two accused during a check at Baghdad airport in March.
At the start of the trial on May 15, the German protested that he had not acted with dishonest intentions.
The Briton gave him the pieces;
he did not know that these were antiques.
The judge followed the German's explanation.
The Brit, on the other hand, was "aware" that the place where he had collected the fragments was an "archaeological dig" and that collecting them was illegal.
The Briton himself denies having known that he was doing something illegal.
Traveling with a tour group
Before the verdict, both defendants had declared themselves innocent when questioned by the judge.
The men were charged under a 2002 Iraqi law that "deliberately smuggling an antique" carries the death penalty.
The judge justified the sentence of 15 years with his "advanced age".
The two men were traveling with a tour group in Iraq and had never known each other before.
About ten stone fragments and pottery shards were found in the Briton's luggage.
The accused German had two objects with him.
He testified that he had been given these by his fellow British traveller.
According to the BBC, the Briton was a retired geologist.
For a man his age, 15 years in an Iraqi prison "is the equivalent of a death sentence," the man's family said.
Iraq is slowly reopening to international tourism after decades of armed conflict.
The excavation sites in the country had been heavily plundered for years.
In particular, the jihadist militia Islamic State (IS) had enriched itself by smuggling antiques.
mbo/AFP
