Fujian villagers wait for court verdict in bid for return of beloved Buddhist mummy
Case in Netherlands to decide ownership of 1,000 year old statue stolen from a Chinese village temple in 1995
Villagers in southeast China are anxiously awaiting a court ruling over the ownership of a stolen Buddhist mummy after the first public hearing opened in the Netherlands on Friday, official media reports.
The lawsuit was filed by the village committee of Yangchun in Fujian province against a Dutch collector two years ago when the mummy, stolen from the village’s Buddhist temple in 1995, was recognised at a museum exhibition in Hungary, according to Ecns.cn, the English-language website of the China News Service.
Oscar van Overeem, a Dutch architect, bought the relic from a Hong Kong art dealer in 1996. Negotiations for its return eventually broke down, so in June last year, group of volunteer lawyers including one from the Netherlands took the case to a local court on behalf of the villagers.
According to Dutch law, the hearing is open to the public and the judge will hear statements from both sides, although a ruling will not be issued immediately on the spot.