Because the children of a Villacher (58) found fragments of amphorae while snorkeling on vacation in Greece and took them home, there is now a risk of trouble. Experts have classified the find as late antique, and the Greek authorities took notice. Now the man faces up to ten years in prison.
In the summer of 2019, a 58-year-old from Villach spent his vacation with his family on the island of Rhodes in Greece. When his children found fragments of amphorae while snorkeling in the sea, the 58-year-old decided to take them with him in his luggage to Austria to have them appraised by archaeological experts. Greek authorities investigate As Greek authorities got wind of it, they countered den Villacher initiated criminal proceedings for the illegal export of cultural assets. The Villach city police command was commissioned with the investigation via a European order and the Klagenfurt public prosecutor’s office. Now the man in Greece faces criminal proceedings for illegally exporting cultural goods with a sentence of up to ten years in prison. Cultural goods handed over to the Greek consul Kyriakopoulou were handed over personally. No trivial offense! After this incident, the Federal Criminal Police Office points out that antique objects that are in the ground or under water are strictly protected in every country. “In the Mediterranean countries, if you are caught with an ancient object that has just been dug up, dived from the sea or even just ‘found’, you face high prison sentences. Holidaymakers are well advised not to touch such objects and leave them where they are,” said Ministerialrätin Anita Gach from the Federal Criminal Police Office.
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