紐約查獲被盜佛教文物 正式歸還巴基斯坦

The US has returned an ancient Buddhist stonesculpture to Pakistan, from where it was stolen inthe 1980s.

日前，美國(guó)政府向巴基斯坦歸還了一尊古佛石雕，該石像曾于上世紀(jì)80年代在巴基斯坦被盜。

The 2nd Century piece, depicting Buddha's footprintsalongside religious symbols, was taken from theSwat Valley and eventually smuggled into the US.

在這尊公元二世紀(jì)左右的石像石雕上，描繪的是佛祖的足跡和其他一些佛教象征的符號(hào)。該石像曾于斯瓦特山谷被盜，后來(lái)輾轉(zhuǎn)流落到了美國(guó)。

A Japanese antiques dealer who brought it to the US from Tokyo pleaded guilty to possessingstolen property in April. The sculpture was expected to reach $1m (700,000 pounds) atauction, but the sale was intercepted by New York authorities.

據(jù)悉，該石像是由一名日本古董商從東京帶到美國(guó)去的，而在今年四月份，該古董商已經(jīng)承認(rèn)自己犯下了占有偷盜贓物罪。這座石像本來(lái)預(yù)計(jì)將在一場(chǎng)拍賣會(huì)上拍出100萬(wàn)美元(約合70萬(wàn)英鎊)的價(jià)格，但是紐約當(dāng)局截獲了這場(chǎng)非法交易。

New York prosecutors returned the sculpture to Pakistan's Deputy Chief of Mission RizwanSaeed Sheikh at a ceremony on last Wednesday.

在上周三的一場(chǎng)交接儀式上，來(lái)自紐約的檢察官們將該石像交給了巴基斯坦代表團(tuán)副團(tuán)長(zhǎng)賽義德·謝赫。

Mr Sheikh said it was "an important element of the cultural history of Pakistan", and wouldlikely be kept in New York for the short term and possibly put on display.

代表團(tuán)副團(tuán)長(zhǎng)謝赫表示，這座石像是“巴基斯坦文化史上非常重要的一部分”，并表示該座石像很可能將在短期內(nèi)留在紐約、并向公眾展出。

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R Vance Jr said the piece was "so much more than a piece ofproperty". "It's an ancient piece that speaks to the history and culture of Pakistan that shouldbe celebrated and protected," he told the Associated Press.

曼哈頓地區(qū)檢察官小塞勒斯·R·維斯表示，這件珍寶“不僅僅只具有經(jīng)濟(jì)價(jià)值”。他告訴美聯(lián)社：“這是一尊來(lái)自古代的珍寶，它向人們?cè)V說(shuō)著巴基斯坦古時(shí)候的文化和歷史，而這些珍貴的歷史和文化理應(yīng)受到重視和保護(hù)。”

Antiquities dealer Tatsuzo Kaku had said he was in part motivated by a desire to protectPakistan's artefacts, but this was dismissed by other experts, who said there were goodstructures in place in Pakistan for doing this. Kaku paid a $5,000 fine and a sentence of time-served and left the country voluntarily.

被捕的日本古董商賀來(lái)辰藏表示，他是出于對(duì)這件珍寶的保護(hù)才將其帶到美國(guó)的，但一些專家駁斥了他的話，并指出巴基斯坦當(dāng)?shù)鼐陀袑ｉT保護(hù)、修復(fù)古董的機(jī)構(gòu)。在賀來(lái)辰藏支付了5000美元的罰金、免于了監(jiān)禁刑罰之后，他便自愿離開了美國(guó)。