As part of the daily agenda of questions in Parliament, on Friday, November 20, 2020, the topical question No. 2/2/12-10-2020, submitted by forty-six Members of Parliament from the Parliamentary Group of the Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance, to the Lina Mendoni, Minister of Culture and Sports, on the topic: «A lack of strategy and antisocial policies in the field of culture.».
It is impressively the statements made by the minister with regard to the Illegal recovery of antiquities from the seabed off Antikythera, in her response to Congresswoman Ms. Kalliopi Vetta which raised the issue. Let us remind our readers that the incident had been the subject of so much Kythira and Antikythira, as well as the whole of Greece the second half of last August. (1. A Strange «Rescue» of Antiquities from the Seabed off Antikythera, 2. The shipowner paid for the salvage of the wreck, 3. They are calling for an immediate and clear statement from the Minister of Culture, 4. The SEA on the illegal recovery of objects from the seabed off Antikythera). The minister said that in the Antikythera incident The ministry’s departments immediately took the steps required by archaeological legislation, since, pursuant to Law 3028,, the authority is administrative. He added that The government's priority is to combat antiquities trafficking, and it accused SYRIZA of reducing the penalties for antiquities traffickers by passing the new criminal codes.
This admission by the minister confirms that the services Not only did they do what was right, but They followed the law to the letter. What is striking, however, is that while the SYRIZA lawmaker made no mention beyond the «unlawful salvage operation», the minister not just once, but twice used the term "antiquities trafficking". In any case, this statement by Ms. Mendoni comes in in complete contrast to the allegations made by the key figures involved in the incident in Antikythera, namely shipowner Mr. P. Laskaridis and of Mayor of Kythira, Mr. Charhalakis on the faces of the archaeologists from the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, such as Director Ms. P. Kalamara and the archaeologist in the same department, and πPresident of the Association of Greek Archaeologists, Ms. D. Koutsouba respectively. (Kythira Mayor Attacks Archaeologists – Documento Reports All the Details of the Illegal Salvage Operation in Antikythera)
Let’s also keep in mind that the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities (EEA) of the Ministry of Culture, In mid-September 2020, it forwarded to the Athens Public Prosecutor's Office for the Court of First Instance the case file on the salvage operation -committed in violation of Greek law- two artifacts were removed from the maritime area of Antikythera.
So, we are expecting the actions taken by the judiciary, since the file documenting the facts was sent to the prosecutor's office.
We present here the Question posed by Congresswoman Vetta and the response from the Minister of Culture and Sports, Mr. Mendonis in her second speech. Below, we have attached the video of the session and the House minutes.
Ms. Vetta’s question regarding the illegal salvage of antiquities off Antikythera
In her parliamentary question, Representative Kalliopi Vetta referred to the tragic events—as she described them—, the minister's tactics for failing to enforce the laws in most cases, such as—to cite a few examples—the informal delegation of its authority to the Mayor of Athens regarding archaeological sites in Athens, the destruction of the ancient artifacts on Venizelos Street in the Thessaloniki Metro, the illegal recovery of antiquities from the seabed off Antikythera, the violation of archaeological laws at Kara Tepe and other cases.
He then posed the following question to the minister: «In exchange for what, Madam Minister, are you doing this? In exchange for what are you effectively abolishing the state’s constitutional obligation to protect cultural heritage? By what right do you dispute scientific evidence, having recently referred to the Tumulus of the Battle of Salamis in Parliament as a «so-called tumulus»? What kind of hypocrisy, I wonder, is your patriotism steeped in—and by what is it crushed—when you destroy important antiquities on the soil of Macedonia or when you destroy Kynosoura, at the very same moment that you boast pompously about the two and a half thousand years since the Battle of Salamis?»
He also accused the minister of acting with criminal intent to vindictively reinstate a corrupt regime of mismanagement and blamed her for failing to defend the country’s artistic talent of the country.
The Minister's Response Regarding Antikythera
During her rebuttal, Minister Mendoni made specific reference to the allegations raised by Ms. Kalliopi Vetta, a member of parliament from the Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance, regarding the illegal recovery of antiquities from the seabed off Antikythera, stating the following:
«Since someone mentioned Antikythera, I’ll tell you that in the case of Antikythera, the relevant departments of the Ministry of Culture—because, according to Law 3028, jurisdiction lies with the relevant departments—immediately took the steps required by archaeological legislation.”.
Listen, I’ve said this many times. Our priority is to tackle the chronic problem of antiquities trafficking. We are addressing it and fighting it. You, on the other hand, reduced the penalties for antiquities traffickers by passing those codes!».
