AUCTION HOUSE IGNORES US PLEA TO DELAY HOPI SALE

[xchrom]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_FRANCE_HOPI_AUCTION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-12-09-07-51-18

PARIS (AP) -- A French auction house on Monday ignored an urgent request by the U.S. Embassy to delay a sale of dozens of sacred Hopi masks and said it would put them on sale.

EVE auctioneers say the sale of 32 artifacts is legal in France and will proceed Monday. The American Indian tribes say the artifacts represent their ancestors' spirits and are unsellable

The U.S. Embassy made a delay request on behalf of the Hopi and San Carlos Apache tribes, to allow them time to travel and identify the controversial artifacts and investigate whether they have a claim to the items under the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. Both France and the U.S. are signatories to the treaty.

The auction house says it stands by French law.

[pipoman]

1. i doubt they will win..

There are millions of artifacts in private hands representing hundreds of millions of dollars. Unless the objects were stolen, taken off land illegally, or composed of something illegal to possess, I bet the items will sell even if they do get a temporary injunction. .