In pics: Egypt's Public Prosecution restores 36 antiquities smuggled to Spain

CAIRO – 20 December 2021:  Egypt’s Public Prosecution succeeded to restore 36 pieces of antiquities that had been smuggled to Madrid, Spain, in 2014.

The Spanish authorities returned the pieces after coordinated efforts with the Public Prosecution, the Foreign Ministry and the Egyptian Embassy in Madrid.

Earlier this week, Public Prosecutor Hamada el Sawy delegated counselor George Saad to lead a high-ranking delegation to Madrid to bring back home the smuggled items, a statement by the Public Prosecution said Monday.

The handover followed an international resolution that was reached in October 2020 upon request by the Egyptian Public Prosecution to issue a seal to retrieve looted antiquities, the statement said.

It also comes as part of a state strategy to maintain Egyptian heritage, it added.

The delegation checked the items and made sure they were the ones in the pictures sent by the Spanish authorities and examined by the Tourism Ministry, the statement said.

It assured that the delegation would supervise the wrapping process ahead of shipping the pieces back home to Egypt and handing them over to the Tourism Ministry in Cairo.

Back in 2014, the Public Prosecution had started an investigation into mails sent by the Spanish authorities to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry pertaining to the seizure of 36 pieces of antiquities arriving from Alexandria to the Port of Valencia.

The probe led to six defendants, including an owner of an import and export office in Alexandria, who smuggled the seized antiquities after having forged container export documents.

The six defendants were referred to criminal court.