Participants in a symposium on Antiquities Act and Egyptian citizens called for a general dialogue on the new Antiquities Act on al-Masry al-Youm pages. The symposium is a good start to debate the new law before its endorsement in the Parliament, said al-Mussawar magazine chief editor, Hamdi Rezq. He suggested opening a general parliament discussion on the law on al-Masry al-Youm pages. There are things more dangerous than antiquities theft, he said, adding "Damaging minds and current ignorance are more dangerous. One day we could see a man with an ax trying to cut the statue of Ramses II's head." The symposium was organized yesterday at the Egyptian Museum Park by the Supreme Council for Antiquities or SCA for short. It discussed the new antiquities act and had reservations about it. This infuriated SCA Legal Advisor, Ashraf Ashmawi, who co-drafted the new law. "26 years passed and we never tried to draw a new law. And when we commenced to draw one, we faced all that criticism," said Ashmawi. The press replied, "What will you do in Parliament?" and Ashmawi said, "Parliament won't be as harsh as you." Ashmawi reviewed articles of the new law and said it made the punishment on antiquities theft and smuggling harsher. It became up to life imprisonment, he noted. It gives the SCA the right to produce copies and miniatures for whoever wants it as long as they are not exact replicas. It prohibits the abuse of important antiquities like the pyramids in a retail fashion without the approval of the SCA to combat the Chinese products he said. The law is hoped to put an end to antiquities-related violations. A violation would be punishable to 5-years imprisonment. It also canceled antiquities ownership stated in the current law. Moreover, the new law cancelled foreign missions' ownership of 10% of antiquity discoveries. Per the law, sumpters and hawkers are banned from being within the range of archeological sites. Al-Masry al-Youm chief editor, Magdi al-Gallad, hopes the new law engineers to be patient enough to accept criticisms in order to protect our antiquities. He said it was their fault that the law was unchanged for 26 years. The State is the side supposed to protect antiquities from violations and smuggling even if there were not any laws, he noted. "The ball is in SCA's court, as well as security bodies," he said, demanding that execution be the punishment to antiquities theft and smuggling. El Galad referred to the copyright issues and wondered how the Chinese products can be fought and said, "The current infrastructure in Egypt doesn't allow it to compete with China even in the production of air."
