Iraqi court postpones smuggling case against Briton, German

22/5/2022 19:29

        An Iraqi court Sunday postponed the trial of two European tourists charged with antiquities smuggling after their lawyers argued more information was needed about the ancient shards found in their possession.
        
        The defense team for German national Volker Waldman filed a motion in court saying there was insufficient information about the value of the pieces Iraqi officials found on him. He was charged alongside Jim Fitton, 66, a retired British geologist.
        
        Baghdad's felony court postponed the case until June 6.
        
        Furat Kubba, defense lawyer for Waldman, said he launched the motion partly to seek more information about the historical significance of the pieces found in his client's possession.
        
        A government technical team concluded the items — 10 pieces found in Fitton's possession and two in Waldman's — could be classified as archaeological pieces because they dated back more than 200 years. The shards, some as small as a fingernail, were collected at Eridu, an ancient Mesopotamian city in southern Iraq.