PARIS (2 Apr 2006) -- The French government Tuesday demanded that Indonesia immediately release a French diver arrested last month with a German colleague for allegedly carrying out illegal archaeological work. The French foreign ministry summoned the Indonesian ambassador on Monday to voice its "strong protests over the arbitrary detention of our compatriot," according to its spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei. "We demand that the situation be clarified without delay and that he be released without delay, along with his German colleague," said the spokesman. Frenchman Jean-Paul Blancan and German national Fred Dobberphul were arrested on March 8, accused of illegally salvaging thousands of treasures from a 10th-century wreck in the Java Sea over the past year. Last week the men, who risk 10 years in jail, were ordered detained for another 40 days, despite protests from the French and German authorities. Blancan is currently in an Indonesian prison hospital, suffering from typhoid and dengue fever. Police claim the men were diving without a proper licence, although their lawyer, the French and German embassies and the Indonesian marine ministry all insist the work was properly authorised. Mattei repeated that the Indonesian company that employed the two divers was in possession of "all necessary authorisations" for conducting underwater archaeological searches. The ship's cargo, which includes thousands of pieces of china and ceramic, bronze and gold objects bought from Arab traders and of semi-precious stones, could provide important clues about ancient trading routes and the arrival of Islam in Indonesia, according to experts. The Belgian head of the archaeology project, carried out jointly with an Indonesian partner, claims that a rival company, assisted by corrupt elements in the police, organised the arrests to gain access to the ship's bounty. SOURCE - Expatica | | Liars and looters Leigh Bishop and Brad Sheard. Following the lead of dive industry-endorsed shipwreck looters Bishop and Sheard, scuba diving thieves around the world are destroying wrecks for bragging rights, coffee table displays and internet auction profits that amount to a fraction of the revenue shipwrecks can generate as fully protected underwater museums. FROM THE EDITORS OF CDNN Despite dive industry 'take pictures, leave only bubbles' green-wash, a small but strident group of scuba diving looters steal artifacts from shipwrecks under the guise of 'archaeological exploration', and aggressively compete for bragging rights, product endorsements and profits from the sales of stolen artifacts that are now on a par with those from smuggling humans and drugs. "We do not care about Leigh Bishop and Brad Sheard's personality problems, their hate-mongering web sites, their chat room shenanigans nor their crude attempts to blackmail good companies that support full protection of marine wildlife and shipwrecks," said CDS President Evan T. Allard. "Such unscrupulous conduct is beneath contempt and serves only to substantiate accusations they have committed crimes and will continue to do so unless authorities step in." "The fact is that the vast majority of the global scuba diving community opposes shipwreck looting and underwater grave robbing, and with good reason," Allard added. "For scuba divers, every shipwreck is an underwater museum to be fully protected for our children, our grandchildren and all future generations of divers who will dive deeper and longer thanks to ongoing improvements in diving technology ," Allard said. CYBER DIVER ALERT | If you have information pertaining to the theft and/or sale of wreck artifacts, or desecration of underwater grave sites by Leigh Bishop, Brad Sheard, organized crime gangs or anyone else, please contact CDNN immediately and your information will be passed along to appropriate authorities. REPORT SCUBA LOOTER |
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