Iraq jails British tourist in antiquities smuggling case

dpa Baghdad An Iraqi court on Monday sentenced a British tourist to 15 years in jail and acquitted a German tourist in a case linked to alleged smuggling ...

dpaBaghdad An Iraqi court on Monday sentenced a British tourist to 15 years in jail and acquitted a German tourist in a case linked to alleged smuggling of antiquities from the country.The customs authorities had discovered a total of 32 artefacts in four pieces of luggage belonging to a tourist group at the Baghdad airport, two of them in a suitcase belonging to the German man.The 60-year-old German and a British citzen were arrested as a result.The court said the British man acted with criminal intent. He can appeal his sentence. The German man is very happy and cried following the verdict, his lawyer told dpa. He wants to go back to Germany within 48 hours.They were accused of smuggling several artefacts from archaeological sites in the province of Dhi Qar, some 375 kilometres south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.The artefacts found in the German’s suitcase belonged to another tourist and the objects were very tiny and collected directly from the ground, one of the lawyers working on the case previously told dpa.The artefacts were confiscated and will be taken to a museum, the court said.