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Swedish diplomat risks jail for stone smuggling

Published: 12 May 12 16:35 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/40798/20120512/

A Swedish diplomat risks a prison sentence after he was suspected of trying to smuggle ancient relics out of Turkey while returning from a family holiday.

The man, stationed at the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm, was stopped when he and his wife were returning home after a charter holiday.

The diplomat had a marble rock stowed away in his luggage.

The "10 centimetre marble stone" was an ancient relic, and the man is now suspected of having tried to smuggle it out of the country, reported national newspaper Expressen.

According to the diplomat’s wife, nobody had informed the couple that bringing these rocks home was forbidden.

"This is ludicrous. We had no idea that you couldn't take stones home as souvenirs," the woman told the paper.

"We don't know now what will happen, or how long we'll have to wait for a decision, but this is a mistake."

The Foreign Ministry has confirmed that the man is apprehended, and staff from the consulate in Istanbul has been to visit the man.

“We haven’t heard any official criminal offense yet,” said the ministry’s press secretary Catarina Axelsson to news agency TT.

However, Expressen revealed that a source had informed that the Turkish authorities take these kind of crimes "extremely seriously".

TT/The Local/cg (news@thelocal.se)

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12:31 May 13, 2012 by doncharles
They let him go immediately hence they did not tell him it was not allowed to be taking. Foreign minister demand his immediate release right now!!
18:37 May 13, 2012 by orangetree
He was living and working in Turkey and he didnt know that how Turks are serious about smuggling reliics!! i didnt find it trustwothy. If he was someone from a consulate, he should be aware of yes and nos..
22:57 May 13, 2012 by DAVID T
Hopefully he gets 20 years in a Turkish Jail
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