U.S. Customs returns confiscated goods (06/07/98)

U.S. Customs returns confiscated goods

by Irene Jarosewich

NEW YORK - Representatives of the U.S. government on May 12 officially handed over 123 religious artifacts that had been illegally transported out of Ukraine and later confiscated by U.S. Customs Service to the government of Ukraine through its representative here, Consul General Viktor Kryzhanivsky. Representatives from the U.S. Customs Service, the Office of the U.S. Attorney, Eastern District, U.S. Department of State and other guests were hosted by Mr. Kryzhanivsky at a buffet luncheon at the Consulate during which a selection of the returned items was displayed.

The return culminated a four-year process that had begun on June 29, 1994, when an Air Ukraine flight attendant was stopped at JFK International Airport and asked to provide duty-free documentation, or a declaration of the items she was carrying and their value.

According to Customs Inspector Pedro Rivera, who stopped Tatiana Burlachenko, the flight attendant, Ms. Burlachenko brought in five pieces of luggage, which immediately prompted suspicion since flight attendants do not normally bring much luggage. "I knew something was not right," said Mr. Rivera when upon begining the inspection of Ms. Burlachenko's luggage, he immediately discovered several icons. Mr. Rivera said that though he did not know exactly what they were, he understand that these were "not merely gifts for relatives," as Ms. Burlachenko claimed.

The U.S. Customs Service has the right to search without a warrant and confiscate property before it leaves the customs area. Since Ms. Burlachenko did not declare the items and did not pay customs duties on them, nor did she have other documentation, such as exit documents signed by Ukraine's Ministry of Culture, the dozens of icons, chalices, tapestries, religious medallions and vestments were confiscated by the U.S. government. The Ukrainian Consulate in New York was then informed that it could make a claim for ownership.

However, the legal process was extended because Stuart Freeman, an art dealer in Brooklyn, filed a claim of ownership. According to information provided by the U.S. District Court, Eastern Division, Mr. Freeman stated that he had purchased the items from another dealer who stated that all documentation for the items to exit Ukraine and enter the U.S. would be complete. Mr. Freeman claimed that as an innocent owner, he should not be subjected to the loss of property, since he did not arrange for the shipping.

The U.S. Court rejected Mr. Freeman's claim and, therefore, the U.S. Customs Service was free to dispose of the forfeited items as it deemed appropriate. Mr. Kryzhanivsky thanked U.S. Customs officials for safeguarding the items for four years and pointed to the action of confiscating and returning the religious artifacts as the type of government-to-government cooperation that Ukraine essentially needs.

Mr. Rivera stated that he was honored to realize that he had helped ensure the religous artifiacts would be returned.

According to Bishop Basil Losten of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford, a guest at the luncheon, the theft of icons and other religious items from museums, churches, archives and storage facilities in Ukraine is soaring. Contrary to the myth propagated by Soviet authorities that the Soviet people voluntarily cast off the shackles of religion and destroyed religious artifacts as symbols of oppression, the Soviet government in fact collected and stored many religious artifacts for decades.

For example, a repository of more than 2,000 icons was found in the water-logged basement of the Armenian Church in Lviv after the fall of the Soviet Union. Numerous thefts from this repository, as well as workshops that are restoring the icons, have been reported.

Bishop Losten added that, regardless of what price these items could sell for, many of them are in fact "priceless," since they are a material part of an endangered cultural heritage, echoing Consul General Kryzhanivsky's words "that not everything is or should be for sale."