The Tirana Prosecution withdrew the illegal traffic charges against
Gjergji Thimo, an art collector who was found with hundreds of church
icons and artworks at his home. The remaining charges are those of
robbing artworks in cooperation with Arben Spaho.
The Prosecution said there is no evidence that Thimio trafficked artworks, since he was licensed by the Ministry of Culture. But there is reasonable doubt that he has stolen artworks. According to the Prosecution, most of the objects found in his house were taken from several churches around the country.
For the other 78 icons, the Prosecution declared that they are continuing the investigations and searches to find these objects for which there is a passport, but they were not found in the collection. Prosecutors say that Gjergji Thimio has been trading artworks for years, and for this activity he had registered a small business at the Korce municipality.
The Prosecution says that even the former Minister of Culture and several former Directors of the National Center of National Asset Inventory have given recommendations for the activity of Gjergji Thimio. Several art personalities have been invited in the exhibits organized by the defendant, and the Prosecution says that the investigation story starts on June 2014, when the co-defendant, Arben Spaho, reported Thimio for an unpaid debt. He reported that he was keeping stolen objects in his house, taken from the churches of Gjirokastra, Korca and Permet. The Prosecution refers to Thimio’s declaration, who admitted that the stolen objects were found in his house, but insisted that he saved those artwork from traffickers in 1997.
The Prosecution says authorities seized 466 objects, and only 32 of them are not part of the cultural heritage. The Albanian Autocephalous Orthodox Church has asked for 47 of them to be returned. The National Center of Inventory says that 78 objects with a passport are missing from the lot, and they might have been sold or modified. The modified objects belong to medieval times and are a national asset. Although owned by private individuals, they should not leave the country.
Based on a document dated November 2013, the Ministry of Culture tells the Prosecutor that one person to whom Thimio has sold several icons, has asked permission from this Ministry to sell them outside Albania. In April 2014, the Center of Inventory has decided to not let these works get outside the Albanian border.
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