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Judge rules mummy mask is here to stay
From Ballotpedia
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April 5, 2012
ST. LOUIS, Missouri: Eastern District Court Judge Henry Autrey has ruled that a 3,200-year-old mummy funeral mask will stay in the possession of the St. Louis Art Museum.[1][2]
The mask of Lady Ka-Nefer-Nefer supposedly went missing from the Cairo Egyptian Museum in the 60's or 70's and the U.S. government said that the relic should be returned to Egypt. Judge Autry disagreed, ruling in favor of the St. Louis Art Museum.[2]
- "The Government cannot simply rest on its laurels and believe that it can initiate a civil forfeiture proceeding on the basis of one bold assertion that because something went missing from one party in 1973 and turned up with another party in 1998, it was therefore stolen and/or imported or exported illegally."[2] - U.S. District Judge Henry Autry
The museum's attorney said that they are confident they are the rightful owners of the ancient mask.
- "We don't have any interest in possessing a stolen object. We've been facing all this innuendo for years."[2] - David Linenbroker, St. Louis Art Museum attorney
The Government has not yet decided whether it will appeal the case.[2]
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