SAEDNEWS: On August 30, 1997, Ettelaat reported that a major antiquities smuggler was convicted on 13 charges and sentenced to 11 years in prison, a fine, and flogging.
According to Saednews report originally published by the Iranian newspaper Ettelaat, a man identified as Mohammadreza was convicted by the Tehran Islamic Revolutionary Court on multiple charges related to antiquities trafficking and other criminal offenses.
Authorities launched an investigation following a report from Iran's Ministry of Intelligence, which described the suspect as one of the country's most active and influential traffickers of cultural heritage objects and antiquities. After an extensive investigation, he was arrested.
During the arrest, officials seized a large collection of antiquities and historical artifacts from various periods of Iranian history. Investigators concluded that, prior to his arrest, he had smuggled cultural objects worth at least 600 million rials out of the country.
The investigation also alleged that the suspect had committed several additional offenses, including disrupting public order and national security through participation in an antiquities smuggling network, concealing valuable historical artifacts, bribing government officials, fraud, promoting immoral activities, attending illicit gatherings, employing an undocumented Bangladeshi national, possessing 54 packets of opium, and maintaining connections with illegal smuggling channels.
The case was referred to a branch of the Tehran Islamic Revolutionary Court, where the defendant was tried on March 3, 1997 (12 Esfand 1375 in the Iranian calendar).
Following the trial, the court sentenced him to:
11 years and one month in prison
80 lashes
A fine of 9.515 billion rials
The court, however, found insufficient evidence to convict him on charges of attempting to purchase a historical stone from Persepolis and maintaining unlawful relations with foreign embassies and foreign nationals. He was acquitted of those specific allegations.
