Egypt demands Italy hand over ex-officials accused of stealing artifacts
The case centers on some 22,000 Egyptian relics, including gold coins, discovered by Italian authorities in 2017.
Egypt has demanded Italy hand over a former honorary consul and trade commissioner accused of trying to smuggle thousands of stolen antiquities out of the North African country.
The Egyptian government Thursday called for the extradition of Ladislav Otakar Skakal, Italy’s former honorary consul in Luxor, and of Italy's former trade commissioner to Egypt, Massimiliano Sponzilli. The two countries don't have an extradition treaty.
In January, the Cairo criminal court sentenced Skakal in absentia to 15 years in prison. The state prosecutor said he tried to smuggle some 22,000 Egyptian relics to Italy, some of which were found in his home and private safe.
Italian police in 2017 found a trove of artifacts, which included thousands of golden coins, mummy masks, pottery and a wooden sarcophagus, stashed in a diplomatic shipping container that arrived in the Italian port city of Salerno from Alexandria. The antiquities were later returned to Egypt.
