Non-Subscriber Extract
JTIC briefing: criminal and terrorist exploitation of icons
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| 23 January 2004 |
By Nick Ridley
Icons as an art form have been in existence since the Dark Ages. One of the fundamental traits of icons of religious individuals is that the likeness is based on the theoretical principle of a true faithful resemblance to the original religious person or event. Therefore, the greater the accuracy of portrayal (and the absence of any artistic interpretation), the more religious power and respect accrues to and is generated by that icon.
This leads to almost total uniformity of the characteristics of icons, with essential common points to each icon, which in turn means, in practical terms, that icons are easy to reproduce or copy and old originals can easily be faked for criminal purposes. A smuggled original icon - or an undetected fake - will hold its illicit purchase value and criminal profit, or will retain the same amount of value in terms of being used for illicit transfer or money laundering.
Valuable artwork is usually either stored in locked repositories or in museums and galleries, which enjoy comparatively high levels of physical security. Icons are more scattered in numerous churches and cathedrals which, by their nature, often remain open comparatively long hours, and whose religious purpose cannot permit an unduly intrusive physical security presence.
In the 1980s, valuable items of art - including icons - were used as purchase capital for consignments of drugs, and as such the artistic items were passed within the criminal groups.
Precious stones are far more easily transportable than icons for smuggling, but lose up to half their value in being passed along the criminal purchase chain. Icons, being so faithfully reproduced as works of art, as opposed to being a unique and easily identifiable picture, retain most of their value and have been used as a form of criminal purchase capital or even part payment or collateral.
During the 1990s, following the break up of the former Soviet Union and the satellite states, the Yugoslav civil wars, and the emergence of transition economies in the new states; icons and religious artefacts were targeted by organised crime groups. It was estimated that fewer than 80 per cent of the total icons present in the former Soviet Union in 1980 had disappeared by 1993.
Investigations have revealed that criminal groups in the UK and France were stealing genuine icons and re-selling them to generate ready cash. In some cases, icons were even re-purchased by the same group in a different location, possibly as a crude but effective form of money laundering.
The whole aspect of stolen icon trafficking, and possible forgery, is made more conducive by the same factor common to all works of art trafficking - a lack of professional registration. In the UK and the European Union there is currently no system of licensing dealers, no semblance of a professional regulatory body or of professional standards enforcement.
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