Repatriations
An important category of cases that has marked the career of attorney Dr. Ilias S. Bissias in the field of cross-border legal practice over the past two decades concerns the successful repatriation of Greek cultural goods from Switzerland.
These are complex cases involving the recovery of highly valuable monuments of Greek cultural heritage, which were discovered and seized in Switzerland as proceeds of crime, claimed by the Hellenic State before the Swiss judicial authorities, and ultimately repatriated to Greece. In these cases, the antiquities had been illegally exported from Greek territory and subsequently trafficked abroad by antiquities smugglers for commercial purposes.
Their discovery at auctions held by renowned houses or in the collections of foreign antiquities dealers—usually by the competent services of the Greek Ministry of Culture—initiated the appropriate legal procedures for their claim and repatriation, in accordance with international and national legislation for the protection of cultural property.
Since 2006, attorney Dr. Ilias S. Bissias and his associates have had the distinct honor of representing the Hellenic State in cases involving the repatriation of Greek antiquities that were identified by the Greek authorities in Switzerland.
During this period, the following repatriations have been successfully accomplished:
Statue of Apollo Lykeiou:
Following its theft from the Museum of Gortyna (Crete), the artifact was identified during an auction in Maastricht, the Netherlands. It was found in the possession of a Swiss-based art dealer in Basel and was ultimately repatriated from Switzerland to Greece in 2007.
Ancient Attic Lekythos (4th century B.C.):
Illicitly excavated, the artifact was identified during an auction in Maastricht, the Netherlands, found in the possession of a Swiss art dealer based in Basel, and repatriated to Greece in 2008.
Four Byzantine Wall Paintings (13th–16th century A.D.):
Following its theft in August 1978 from the Byzantine Church of Palaiopanagia in Steni (Euboea), the artifact was identified in 2006 at a Basel gallery belonging to a renowned Italian art dealer and was ultimately repatriated to Greece in 2010.
118 Ancient Greek Coins (4th–5th century B.C.):
Seized in 2011 at Zurich Airport from an individual intending to sell them in Switzerland, and, following protracted litigation, repatriated to Greece in 2013.
Rare Silver Coin “Octadrachm of Vissaltia” (5th century B.C.):
Seized in 2009 at a coin auction house in Zurich and, following protracted litigation, repatriated to Greece in 2015.
Two Attic Funerary Vessels (4th century B.C.):
The artifact originated from the collection of a well-known Italian art dealer in Basel (Switzerland), was identified in 2017 at an auction in London while in the possession of a Swiss collector, and following protracted negotiations, was repatriated to Greece in June 2024 upon compensation to the Hellenic State.
All of these cultural objects, successfully repatriated to their countries of origin and now enriching Greek museums, were recovered through the persistent, time-intensive, and tireless efforts of the competent departments of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, the Greek judicial and law enforcement authorities, in close cooperation and under the legal advice of Dr. Ilias S. Bissias and his team.
