British, German citizens face death penalty in Iraq for smuggling antiquities

ByNews Desk- The Cradle 

Thousands of ancient artifacts were looted from Iraq during the two western invasions of the country

The Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, stolen from Iraq in 1991, returned to Iraq after it was seized by the US government, is displayed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baghdad, Iraq. 7 December, 2021. (Photo credit: REUTERS/Saba Kareem)

A retired British geologist faces the death penalty in Iraq after getting caught trying to smuggle historic artifacts out of the country.

Jim Fitton, 66, and an unidentified German man were arrested at Baghdad International Airport on 20 March after officials discovered dozens of ancient relics in their luggage.

The two detained tourists were on an archaeology tour of the country when they collected stone and pottery fragments. Fitton’s family claims he was unaware of their historical value.

Fitton’s tour group was found with 32 relics at the airport, and the two accused are facing serious allegations of antiquities smuggling.

Iraqi law states that anyone who exports or intends to export antiquities from the country can be punished by execution, imprisonment, or a fine.

“Whilst on the tour, our father visited historical sites around Iraq, where his tour group found fragments of stones and shards of broken pottery in piles on the ground,” Fitton’s family wrote in a statement.

The statement goes on to add that “tour members were told that this would not be an issue, as the broken shards had no economic or historical value.”

According to Middle East Eye, the man in charge of organizing the tour had a stroke at the end of the trip, was hospitalized, contracted COVID-19, and died on 22 April in Baghdad’s al-Yarmouk hospital.

Attempts to evacuate the 85-year-old British veteran from the country before his death were thwarted after authorities discovered the stolen artifacts.

During both US-led wars against Iraq — in 1991 and 2003 — thousands of priceless historical relics were looted from the country.

Many of these later turned up in online auction sites.

Last year, an ancient tablet from Mesopotamia that contains the Epic of Gilgamesh was returned to Iraq after being stolen and illegally exported from Iraq by the US during the first Gulf War.

Iraq recovered 18,000 stolen artefacts in a one-year span, out of which 17,899 stolen pieces were found in and returned from the US in the summer of 2021.

The artefacts, which date back around 4,000 years, returned to Iraq mid-July aboard a plane carrying Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi from a trip to Washington, after a meeting US President Joe Biden.