Aden Court Orders Yemeni Government to Recover Smuggled Antiquities from Abroad
Yemen Monitor | Newsroom:
The Primary Public Funds Court in Aden issued a ruling on Sunday requiring the Yemeni government to recover a collection of smuggled Yemeni antiquities currently displayed in several European countries, including Spain, UK, France, and Switzerland.
The ruling was issued in case No. 93 of the year 1446 AH, filed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office against the General Authority for Antiquities and Museums, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism regarding the ownership and repatriation of Yemeni artifacts held abroad.
In its ruling, the court reviewed official documents and evidence, expert reports submitted by archaeologists, as well as national laws and international agreements related to heritage and antiquities protection.
The court ruled to accept the case procedurally and affirmed, based on legal and religious evidence, the ownership of the Republic of Yemen over all the detailed antiquities mentioned in the ruling and currently held in the named countries.
The judgment obligates the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the General Authority for Antiquities and Museums, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to coordinate efforts to retrieve and repatriate the specified Yemeni artifacts, and to deliver them to the General Authority for Antiquities and Museums in the capital, Aden. The authority is to preserve, restore, and protect the artifacts in accordance with the law.
The ruling also directed the General Authority for Antiquities and Museums to update its database of Yemeni antiquities and to prepare and distribute bulletins identifying artifacts lost during the war and smuggled abroad, to be circulated on official platforms.
It is worth noting that the smuggling of Yemeni antiquities has worsened in recent years. Both local and international reports have documented thousands of Yemeni artifacts being sold through online auctions in countries including the U.S., UK, France, and Israel—posing a significant threat to Yemen’s cultural heritage.
