U.S. returns looted Iraqi artifacts acquired by Hobby Lobby

Edited by Pavel Jacomino
2018-05-04 15:36:49

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Iraqi artifacts returned to Baghdad.  Photo: Democracy Now

Washington, May 4 (RHC)-- The United States has returned thousands of ancient artifacts looted from Iraq and illegally acquired by the U.S.-based Christian craft chain store Hobby Lobby. 

The handover of 3,800 artifacts to Iraq’s ambassador in Washington came nearly a year after Hobby Lobby agreed to pay a $3 million fine, after it spent over $1.5 million in 2010 to purchase the smuggled artifacts from a dealer based in the United Arab Emirates.  The sales violated a ban on the sale of Iraqi cultural artifacts in place since 2004.  
 
Hobby Lobby’s owners are conservative Christians who recently opened a Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.  In 2014, Hobby Lobby won a landmark decision at the Supreme Court, which ruled that private companies that claim religious objections can refuse to provide birth control coverage to employees. 



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