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 stone sculpture to Pakistan, from where it was stolen in the 1980s.

日前，美國政府向巴基斯坦歸還了一尊古佛石雕，該石像曾於上世紀80年代在巴基斯坦被盜。

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

在這尊公元二世紀左右的石像石雕上，描繪的是佛祖的足跡和其他一些佛教象徵的符號。該石像曾於斯瓦特山谷被盜，後來輾轉流落到了美國。

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

據悉，該石像是由一名日本古董商從東京帶到美國去的，而在今年四月份，該古董商已經承認自己犯下了佔有偷盜贓物罪。這座石像本來預計將在一場拍賣會上拍出100萬美元（約合70萬英鎊）的價格，但是紐約當局截獲了這場非法交易。

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

在上週三的一場交接儀式上，來自紐約的檢察官們將該石像交給了巴基斯坦代表團副團長賽義德·謝赫。

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

代表團副團長謝赫表示，這座石像是“巴基斯坦文化史上非常重要的一部分”，並表示該座石像很可能將在短期內留在紐約、並向公衆展出。

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

曼哈頓地區檢察官小塞勒斯·R·維斯表示，這件珍寶“不僅僅只具有經濟價值”。他告訴美聯社：“這是一尊來自古代的珍寶，它向人們訴說着巴基斯坦古時候的文化和歷史，而這些珍貴的歷史和文化理應受到重視和保護。”

Antiquities dealer Tatsuzo Kaku had said he was in part motivated by a desire to protect Pakistan's artefacts, but this was dismissed by other experts, who said there were good structures 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辰藏表示，他是出於對這件珍寶的保護纔將其帶到美國的，但一些專家駁斥了他的話，並指出巴基斯坦當地就有專門保護、修復古董的機構。在賀來辰藏支付了5000美元的罰金、免於了監禁刑罰之後，他便自願離開了美國。