140 The judgment of acquittal handed down on March 30, 2015, by the Chambre Correctionnelle du Tribunal de Première Instance Francophone court in Brussels with regard to the importation of cultural goods, presumed illegal by virtue of the stipulations of the UNESCO Convention of November 1970, provides an occasion to recall the principles of this landmark agreement. It is also an opportunity to consider the disastrous application of its tenets as frequently exercised by overzealous authorities with little or no knowledge of the law. A Hurried and Unfounded Penal Procedure The present judicial adventure began in 2009 with a seizure from the Brussels art shipping warehouse of thirteen sculpted posts from Madagascar and ten Pre-Columbian objects exported from Guatemala. An investigation was launched and French gendarmes and Belgian police offi cers paid a dawn visit to the home of the French dealer who had imported the material. A stream of questions poured out: “Where do the objects come from?” “Are they your property?” “Why and how did you import them?” “Are you aware that the importation of cultural goods is illegal?” Shocked and incredulous, the dealer hosted the authorities until about noon, when they left. What happened then, the impatient reader asks? Well, nothing. Or almost nothing, insofar as the material, alleged by the Belgian police to have been imported illegally but without any explanation of why, remained confiscated. The public prosecutor deemed the infractions to be serious enough, clear enough, and obviously punishable enough for charges to be brought. A citation directe was issued demanding that the dealer appear before the Tribunal Correctionnel. ART + law UNESCO Convention Protection limited to designated FIG. 1 (left and right): Female fi gure. Sakalava, Madagascar. Early 20th century. Private collection, Brussels. Photo: Hughes Dubois. FIG. 2 (right): Large funerary post, aloalo. Antandroy, Madagascar. Early 20th century. Private collection, Brussels. Photo: Arthur Verdier.
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