Implicated businessman expresses anger over museum theft

Hashim Djojohadikusumo, a businessman and a collector implicated in last year’s theft of antiquities involving the Radya Pustaka Museum in Surakarta expresses his anger and innocence in the scandal.

Collector angry for being named in stolen statue case
The Jakarta Post, 28 November 2008

Businessman Hashim Djojohadikusumo said Thursday he was bitter about being implicated in the theft of valuable artifacts from the Radya Pustaka Museum in Surakarta.

“I’m upset. Frankly, I was furious when I heard I’d been named as a suspect. I’ve been committed to preserving historical artifacts for years, to make sure they wouldn’t be taken out of the country, but my efforts are futile,” he said during trial proceedings led by Saparudin Hasibuan at the Surakarta District Court on Thursday.

He said he was innocent both of the charge of theft and the charge of falsifying the statues’ provenance. He said he only bought the statues because they had been offered by Hugo Kreijger, a former curator of Christie’s auction house in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.