the v&a told the bbc: questions about cambodia s illicit antiquities trade have led investigators to some strange places. bangkok, 2010 the latchford classic. the entire contest is named after this man, douglas latchford. he was also a high profile art dealer, believed to be at the very centre of the trade in stolen antiquities. latchford agreed to a rare interview in the 2014 documentary the stolen warriors. the filmmakers asked latchford about a civil complaint filed by the united states
wow, 0k. i ve got exclusive access to the sites they were stolen from, and speak to the temple raiders who did the looting. this one? for many cambodians, these sculptures are much more than just stone objects. now cambodia is fighting back, demanding that some of the biggest museums in the world return their antiquities. these museums and these individuals are in receipt of stolen property, and the stolen property needs to come back.
over, this carving s been completely removed by looters and we simply don t know where it s gone. i mean, look at these bits. the head s been taken off, a hands been taken off, the fingers are gone. on this one, i mean, it s just been lopped off right at the top. i mean, you canjust imagine a looter would cut that, take it, smuggle it across a border, probably into thailand, and then on into some auction house. we simply don t know where this has gone. the same thing has happened in thousands of temples, including this one, 100km to the east of angkor wat. for many cambodians, the missing statues are thought to have souls. they re notjust stone, are they, or bronze? they are definitely not
this khmer sculpture of a five headed shiva broke all records when it fetched a total of £319,000. brad and his team have tracked down the five headed shiva. it was sold at sotheby s to a private collector. in 1993, it was donated to the met museum in new york, where it s on display today. what would you like the met to do? we would love it to come back next week, you know. i think it s an important piece for the cambodians and it needs to come home. a spokesperson for the met told us: retrieving the statues would look good politically for the cambodian government ahead of an election year in 2023.
that lies in the shadows of the scene of industrial scale looting. up here is the way that go to the market in the. satia was born here and comes from a family of looters who struggled to survive under the khmer rouge. my older generation, my grandfather, my father, they already did that, they don t have choice. at that time, it s a civil war in cambodia. like, if you are starving, then finding some statues to sell for them so you could have money to feed your family, and i think that s what my father think, and that s why he did that. satia now works as a key member in the cambodian investigative team, fighting for the return of the country s antiquities. i grew up in this village next to the temple. some of the older generation, theyjust to see the gods in the temple,