Christie's tightlipped about stolen paintings<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Christie's International Singapore Pte. Ltd.
\nsays no officials from Indonesia or Singapore have contacted the
\nauction house about the two Indonesian paintings reportedly
\nstolen from the National Museum here.<\/p>\n
\"No one has approached us so far,\" Billie, secretary to
\nChristie's Singapore general manager Irene Lee, told The Jakarta
\nPost over the phone.<\/p>\n
The statement contradicts recent remarks made by Indonesian
\npolice officers to the effect that Jakarta has started working to
\nget back the paintings, which were hastily withdrawn by
\nChristie's from its Oct. 6 auction in Singapore.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters on Sunday in Batam Island in Riau
\nprovince, close to Singapore, National Police Chief Lt. Gen.
\nDibyo Widodo said that the Indonesian police have asked the
\nSingaporean police, through Interpol, to help investigate the
\nstolen paintings and trace the perpetrators.<\/p>\n
Late last week, Indonesian art curators and relatives of the
\nfamous portrait master R. Basoeki Abdullah called on Christie's
\nto return the paintings.<\/p>\n
They also wanted the Indonesian government to take immediate
\naction through diplomatic channels to get back the paintings.<\/p>\n
Billie refused to say what happened to the two paintings and
\nthe identity of their owners.<\/p>\n
The paintings are A Nude, completed in 1992, by Basoeki
\nAbdullah and Portrait of a Dutch Governor Wearing the Willems
\nOrder, completed in 1867, by Raden Sarief Bustaman Saleh, better
\nknown as Raden Saleh.<\/p>\n
They are said to be among six works by Indonesian artists
\nallegedly stolen here recently.<\/p>\n
Christie's announced the abrupt withdrawal of the paintings on
\nFriday, following reports from Jakarta newspapers about the
\ntheft.<\/p>\n
Lawyer<\/p>\n
Despite the clamor to return the paintings to Jakarta, many
\nexperts have expressed pessimism due to the strict rules of
\nprivilege at Christie's.<\/p>\n
\"It's not easy to get back the paintings because Christie's
\nhas to protect the identity of its clients,\" said art curator Jim
\nSupangkat.<\/p>\n
However, lawyer Amir Syamsuddin said \"there's no reason for
\nanyone, including Christie's, to hide the identities of anyone
\nwho is strongly believed to have be involved in a crime.\"<\/p>\n
\"Thus our government, through our embassy there, must soon
\nsubmit a report to the Singaporean authorities,\" Amir told the
\nPost last night.<\/p>\n
Indonesia could hire a local lawyer to try for a \"temporary\"
\nconfiscation of the paintings, said the lawyer.<\/p>\n
\"It does need extra money to do this but the government has to
\ntake this case seriously, to preserve our national assets,\" Amir
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Correspondence will gain us nothing,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The confiscation of the paintings could help the local police
\nto find the owner, which in turn would lead to the whereabouts of
\nthe other four paintings.<\/p>\n
In another related development yesterday, police chief Dibyo
\nspeculated that the perpetrators were professional criminals.<\/p>\n
Police have started to question a number of staffers of the
\nmuseum.<\/p>\n
Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro said
\nMonday that the theft also involved some insiders. (bsr)<\/p>",
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