I leave Cyprus on February 10, unwilling to let this situation impact my health any longer. Instead, I quiet my fears with the thought that I am in the hands of the best possible people. My bond with the archbishop is unbreakable, and I trust him.
By the end of February all of my files detailing my repatriation work have been copied. One set of copies has been placed in Polak’s office vault and another is in my safe at home.
Polak informs the Cypriot police that they can review my files in his office at their convenience. Neither the police nor anyone from the attorney general’s office ever review the files. Nonetheless, the attorney general declares in a letter to the archbishop that I am responsible for their key witness—Van Rijn—leaving Cyprus.12, 13
Circumstances continue to go from bad to worse when Stella Joannides receives a letter from the law firm Schilling & Lom, acting attorneys for Van Rijn, threatening legal action. He claims he was promised a casino license, free land on which to build it, between one and two million euros, 10 percent of the value of what was recovered in Munich, and thousands of dollars in expenses. He is also asking for additional monies due to an incorrect exchange rate, and he threatens to place a claim on the Munich artifacts if he is not paid.14 Van Rijn is also claiming that he was instructed by the Cypriot police to lie under oath about purchasing the fake Andreas and that the government jeopardized his safety when the police took information he gave them in confidence and raided dealer Dritsoulas’s gallery in Germany without his consultation. Van Rijn claims he has evidence to compromise the police and attorney general’s office and that he will release the taped recordings of telephone conversations to the press.15
In a February raid on Dritsoulas’s gallery in Munich, the Bavarian police recovered another pair of Royal Doors; these are from the church of Ayia Paraskevi in Angastina, authenticated by Mr. Papageorgiou. Dritsoulas’s attorneys will not release the doors to the Cypriots. His lawyers want proof of ownership. Yet the attorney general’s office continues to resist clarifying their position as to when the evidence will be released to support the restitution claims.16
“My words are intended to support you, so please do not take what I have to say as if it is sprinkled with bitterness,” says the archbishop.
“Of course,” I respond.
“I want you to know that it doesn’t matter to me what you promised to Mr. Van Rijn. I will do whatever you ask. Do you understand?”
“Your Beatitude, I know that the attorney general is putting immense pressure on you. I beg of you, please, do not agree to pay Van Rijn any more money. If you cave in to his demands now, you will place the Church and me in even more jeopardy. You must trust me on this.”
“I wanted to be sure, Tasoula,” he says. “This is the last time I will ever question you.”
I am alone in this like I was in the war, except as a child I could never see or feel God’s presence, but now I do—he is in the faces of the bishop and the archbishop.
Twenty-Nine
CIVIL UNREST
Feeling that my world has turned upside down, I look for a way to reverse it as circumstances continue to work against me.
The case of the Royal Doors in Japan and whether the Church plans to press charges against Mr. Roozemond and the Kanazawa College of Art is still pending. Proceedings against Robert Roozemond will have had to be initiated before the Dutch court can file a claim against Kanazawa College. A suit will be a lengthy process with an unforeseeable outcome, and we conclude that it does not make practical sense to proceed. Roozemond never addressed Papageorgiou’s request to identify the doors in person, but he and his legal adviser offered other options to Papageorgiou, which, they claim, went unanswered between 1991 and 1995. Roozemond claims this to be ample time to wait for a response before selling the Royal Doors to Kanazawa College. These facts, according to Mr. Polak, could weaken our case.
The archbishop and I fought incredibly hard for the return of these doors, but I’m afraid this is a fight we must surrender for now. This is an example of how dealers find loopholes in the law to legitimize the sale of illicit property. It is not just the dealers who are at fault here, it is all those who create a demand for these objects, who do a bare minimum of due diligence in investigating the legal status of what they are purchasing. I may have lost this battle, but the war is not over.1
Aristotle said, “Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.”
Just as the Cypriots have no case for extradition, there is also no evidence to back up their claim that I am the cause of their failings in Germany. The sting and the opportunity to bring these artifacts home should only have been cause of celebration.
The archbishop’s advice to have Polak take over the handling of negotiations with Van Rijn had all parties treading more carefully. The attorney general’s office of Cyprus continues to withhold evidence requested by the German authorities.
As my representative, Polak responds to Van Rijn’s attorneys concerning issues involving me. The remarks made by the attorney general are his unsubstantiated interpretations of the arrangement made between Van Rijn and the Church. His office is not only siding with Van Rijn; they are working in alliance with him. Van Rijn’s testimony was never a condition of the agreement I negotiated with him for the Church. The Church’s purpose is to recover the artifacts. The attorney general’s position is to prosecute. It is the police and attorney generals responsibility to retrieve a statement from Van Rijn.
There is an obligation on the part of the state to share Mr. Papageorgiou’s official reports identifying the artifacts for Cyprus with the Church’s attorney in Germany. Without documentation and proof of what Munich artifacts belong to Cyprus (Papageorgiou’s report), the church cannot repatriate its stolen artifacts. Attorney David Hole formulated a claim in October of 1997 on behalf of the Church and the state to obtain possession of the artifacts, but not having Papageorgiou’s report places us at a dead end.
Every one of Van Rijn’s accusations against me is disputed as lies and backed up with evidence.2 Polak forwards a response to Stella and notifies her that the Church will be dealing directly with Van Rijn’s attorneys.3
As April descends upon us, we are told that the Cypriots and the Germans will need Van Rijn’s direct testimony in order to prosecute Dikmen. Hole suggests revisions to my statement; I implement the changes and forward it to him a day later.4
Hearing a fax arrive, I walk over to the machine to investigate.
“Tomorrow is my late father’s birthday. You remember, the man you were going to visit and subsequently call by phone? Signed, MVR.”5
Van Rijn is signaling me. Here is my opening to lure him back to the negotiating table.6 Polak responds that we are open to meeting with Van Rijn and his lawyers. Unbeknownst to them, we are prepared to make a deal for the difference in the exchange rate in return for the fake Andreas. Polak puts off Van Rijn’s attorney after he makes outrageous preconditions. Van Rijn sends me copies of correspondence that Stella sent to his attorney. In one letter she guarantees he will receive $44,597, which is not part of any agreement I made with Van Rijn.7
When an invitation from the Greek minister of foreign affairs to be a guest speaker in Athens at the International Day of Museums arrives, I remember an ongoing civil case that the Church is involved with in Greece, and write to the Church’s attorney for an update. The case involves an icon, “The Enthroned Virgin Mary and Child,” which originated from the iconostasis of the monastery of Antiphonitis in the village of Kalograia and looted during the invasion of Cyprus.
The Enthroned Virgin Mary icon was exhibited on loan from Panagiotis Pervanas in the Byzantine & Christian Museum in Athens in 1984.8 Pervanas, a Greek who lived in Switzerland, purchased it from Sotheby’s. Archeologists recognized the icons in a catalogue from Petsopoulos’s exhibition as being stolen from Cyprus and reported it. The Church began a civil case against Pervanas in 1993.
No one thought to invoke the Convention for the Protection of C
ultural Heritage in the Event of Armed Conflict (the Hague Protocol). If I can get Greece to invoke the protocol in this case, we will get the icon returned, and it will set precedent for the Dutch to invoke it in the Lans case, which is still ongoing. In light of this new development, I go to the Greek minister for culture, Evangelos Venizelos, and ask for his assistance. He confirms that Greece is part of the treaty and that I should meet with him in Athens.
After several weeks, Minister Venizelos has still not invoked the treaty.9 I call to discuss the matter with the archbishop.
“You must contact the president of Greece and tell him that he cannot ask the British for return of the Parthenon Marbles with one hand and deny invoking the protocol for Cyprus with the other. How can Cyprus ask for the application of the treaty in Holland for the Lans case if we are not demanding it of Greece?” I say.
“This is why you are a target,” says the archbishop. “You put everyone else to shame in the way you think,” he continues. “Send me a note and I’ll get it to President Stephanopoulos.”
I write a summary of the case, which the archbishop forwards to the President. A short time later, the ambassador of Greece notifies the archbishop that the Greek government will be returning the icon of the Enthroned Virgin Mary to Cyprus. Case closed.
Concerned, the Cypriots have not provided proof of provenance regarding the Munich evidence after seven months’ time, I write to the minister of foreign affairs asking for his intervention. The Germans will only consider extradition of Dikmen after he has been prosecuted in Germany. Dritsoulas is about to put a counter claim on part of the Munich artifacts. The Dutch and German lawyers of the Church are advising that a clear distinction be made between the civil and criminal case and suggest that we appeal for the return of the artifacts to the Germans as quickly as possible. Both the archbishop and I are extremely fearful about the fate of the artifacts.10
After months and months of waiting to receive comments from the attorney general’s office about my statement, it arrives in the form of two sentences. Polak sends my statement back with revisions and informs them that if they don’t send the statement within the week, we will send it directly to the German authorities ourselves. The Cypriots do not comply with a May tenth deadline, and so we proceed.11
As the last days of June fade into July, Van Rijn returns.
“Forget about lawyers. I want to meet with you alone, behind customs, at Schiphol airport,” he says.
The game is back on. I get advice from a friend who works at Interpol on how to tape Van Rijn and rush off to purchase a recorder at a spy shop in Amsterdam. Van Rijn will ask me if I am recording him, which places me in a moral dilemma. How do I justify lying, and will Van Rijn, who is such a good reader of people, be able to see that I am? The archbishop advises me that what I am doing is in self-defense, and that helps me to cope.
I drive to Schiphol, buy an airline ticket to London, and meet Van Rijn behind the customs area.
He’s seated at a table by the self-serve coffee shop. I slowly take my seat, moving in confidence, looking him in the eyes.
“Are you wired?” he asks.
“Would I do something like that? You are the one who wires!” I respond with my Greek/Dutch/English accent deliberately played up, breaking the ice and making him laugh.
“Why did you do what you did to me?” I ask in a more serious tone.
“You left me no choice. I have kids to feed. You made me believe that every Cypriot is like you!”
“You tried to destroy me, Van Rijn,” I say, looking directly into his eyes.
He goes on making excuses until I can’t bear to hear another word.
“I never lied to you. Never made a promise I didn’t keep. Do you have any idea what you put me through?” I say.
His facial expression tells me he’s about to confess when my mobile phone rings. It’s Michael warning me that the tape recorder is about to go off and I should excuse myself to go to the restroom to flip the tape.
“Michael needs me. Would you excuse me?” He graciously encourages me to take the call. In the restroom I flip the tape, refresh my lipstick, and return to the table.
“I’m waiting for you to answer me, Van Rijn. Why did you lie to the authorities and tell them I promised you a casino, land, and more money?”
He looks at me, and I can see he feels bad.
“I’m sorry. I had to discredit you to get you out of the picture, so I lied about the casino and the land. You never promised me those things. Nor did the archbishop. I felt I deserved more than I got. Munich was such a success, and I had nothing to show for it. I am sorry for everything I put you through. I’m desperate. I’ve burned my bridges and can’t go back to my old life. I need money.” I breathe easier now knowing that I have proof that he lied on tape.
“Do you have any idea how your people talk about you?” he asks.
I don’t respond. At the end of the day, I still wear the hat of an honorary consul.
“I can damage your government badly with what I have these people saying on tape. It will destroy your government’s image if it gets out to the press,” he says, as he hands me a letter that Stella wrote to his lawyers. In it she states that I am working on my own and never had the authority to speak for the government of Cyprus. Stella even suggests that Van Rijn go after me if he does not get the money he is owed.12
“I have Tassos on tape asking me to lie to the German authorities and Stella guaranteeing that the attorney general’s office will get the Church to pay me money.”
“I don’t believe you,” I say. He pulls out a tape and plays it for me.
“Yes, Van Rijn. She is an impossible woman and she has caused you a lot of harm. The attorney general has just put her in her place with the media. The minimum amount you will receive is $44,597. That is now agreed.”
It seems to be Stella’s voice. I’m devastated.
“When are you going to give me the fake Andreas, Van Rijn?”13
“Stella promises the Church will pay me $44,597 and there is no mention of getting the fake Andreas in return. Unless the Church pays me additional money, I see no reason to return it.”14
“The Church will not be blackmailed, Van Rijn, under any conditions.”
“Pay me some money and I’ll give you the tapes. I guarantee you will change your mind when you hear the evidence,” he says.
“It is the fake mosaic I am after.”
“Then I’ll see you in court,” Van Rijn says.
On July 16 I fly to Munich with Polak to deliver my statement to Peter Kitschler. While we are there, we meet with David Hole, who informs us that Van Rijn’s lawyers are filing an ex parte application to freeze the Munich assets in anticipation of a judgment against the Church of Cyprus and the Republic of Cyprus. The timing couldn’t be worse as the question of voluntary return is being presented to Aydin Dikmen’s attorney. Van Rijn is in the process of trying to sell the tapes of Stella and Tassos to Dikmen’s attorney, just as he tried to tape our conversations and work both sides of the fence during the Peg Goldberg Kanakaria case in America.15
David Hole briefs us. “In order to establish that a person is trafficking in Germany, the prosecution has to prove that the objects have been in the subject’s possession for less than ten years or there must be evidence that a connection between the subject and the thief exists, which in Dikmen’s case cannot be proven. The only link we have to prosecute Dikmen is Van Rijn and his collaborators who were already guaranteed anonymity. Dikman’s continued silence poses additional obstacles. The Germans will probably only be able to prosecute Dikmen for representing that the fake Andreas mosaic was real and believe that Van Rijn’s testimony will not offer evidence in regard to trafficking. Dikmen can be charged with perjury for not reporting the artifacts found in his possession on October seventh. During the Kanakaria case, he was convicted of tax invasion for which he received a suspended jail sentence. If he is convicted on the forgery charge, the suspended sentence will g
o into effect.”16
The attorney general’s office forbids David Hole to give us access to the eight binders of provenance evidence prepared by Papageorgiou, which David Hole will be presenting to the German authorities.17 Having to deal with his two clients, the Church and state, separately has posed an extenuating conflict of interest for Hole.
Even with one foot in Cyprus and the other in the Netherlands, I manage to keep the peace on the home front. Michael understands my situation and the dilemma I face trying to get the Munich case back on track.
Van Rijn is in the catbird seat. We hope to get his statement about the sale of the fake Andreas, but he will be angling to get paid for it. The question is how little can we get away with giving him. As I leave for the airport, a fax comes in from David Hole. Van Rijn’s attorney is threatening to issue a court order to place a hold on the artifacts in Germany until his claims against the state and the Church are resolved.18
Cyprus in July means cloudless skies, intense heat, and celebration of Commandaria, a sweet dessert wine made in Cyprus from sun-dried grapes in an ancient style of winemaking that dates back to the twelfth century.
Arriving at the palace in Nicosia, I am struck by the archbishop’s appearance. He looks tired and thin as he leads me into the study in his private quarters. I feel guilty burdening him with anything more than he is already carrying at the moment.
“Your Beatitude, you seem troubled. Are you feeling all right?” I ask, but he doesn’t answer me. He continues to stare off into space as he stirs his tea.
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