Picket at Christies against the looting of Greek antiquities by Tansy E Hoskins

 Campaigners from Greece and London gathered at Christies today to protest against the sale of looted antiquities and against the cuts faced by the Greek Ministry of Culture. Austerity measures in Greece have undermined public services, the welfare state, and social cohesion. 

  Staff cuts at the Ministry of Culture have led to security being compromised at museums and archaeological sites across Greece, as a result illegal digging has increased and armed robberies have occurred. 

Greek archaeologists, Fotis Georgiadis stated: "There were objects being sold at Christies today that can only have come from the Aegean Islands and the Peleponese in Greece, so they probably are the result of illegal excavations. Antiquities will be stolen as long as there is a market for them, the market is the cause of illegal digging." 

 
 Paul Mackney, Vice Chair of Coalition of Resistance and former General Secretary of UCU stated: "It is obscene that the mega-rich are spending large sums of money on Greek artefacts for their private collections, whilst in Athens austerity measures have led to people queuing at soup lines and scavenging for food, and the troika (the IMF, the EU and the European Central Bank) is pressing Greece to sell off its treasures."