This marks the first time cultural destruction is the main charge against a defendant, as well as the first time the destroyed property was considered to have global cultural significance, as Jonathan Birchall of the Open Society for Justice Initiative explains to The Guardian.įor over half a century, archaeologists and others have worked to introduce legal protections for global heritage sites, and the history of these efforts reveal a tragic pattern of destruction.
The defendant, Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, is charged with the destruction of medieval shrines in Mali.
PRECIOUS ARTIFACT MEANING TRIAL
The public outcry has culminated in the International Criminal Court’s first-ever trial for the destruction of cultural artifacts, which begins in the Hague this week. In recent years, there has been an increase in calls to prosecute this destruction, particularly as ISIS began its purposeful incineration and looting of artifacts and heritage sites in the Middle East. But as of this week, it will the subject of international litigation.
Iconoclasm, the obliteration of religious and cultural artifacts, has a history that dates back millennia. Finally, someone is on trial internationally for destroying precious cultural property
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