Scheveningen, a district of The Hague and popular seaside resort area, has a four-hundred-meter pier that juts out into the North Sea, offering a spectacular view. References to it date back to 1280 when fishing was a major source of food and income for local residents. Its long, wide, sandy beaches run parallel to a boulevard lined with restaurants and sea life sculptures that attract tourists and locals in droves.
Wanting Bishop Vasilios to experience Dutch “culinary gold,” raw herring, we embark on an excursion to Scheveningen during his stay. Although herring tastes best during the summer season, this dish is in a league of its own any time of the year. We pass herring stands and watch people dip their raw herring into onions, then hold it between their fingers as they lean back and drop it in to their mouths like trained seals.
Inside the Simonis restaurant on the boulevard near the beach, the bishop’s attempt to master the art of eating herring is interrupted by an incoming mobile phone call from Cypriot journalist Marina Schiza, which I place on speaker.
“You will never believe what I am about to tell you,” she says, in Greek. “At the attorney general’s press conference last week with Tassos and Stella in Cyprus, the AG briefed the press as if his office and the police orchestrated the entire Munich sting. Your name never came up!”
“But I saw an official press release where the attorney general gives praise to the archbishop and mentions me too,” I say.
“Tasoula, Kyriacos, the news presenter, and I were outraged when we heard them take credit for your work. We stood up separately and publicly declared that we had the inside story about Munich because you phoned us just hours prior to leaving for the sting. We asked why he didn’t mention your participation in the events.”
I feel slightly embarrassed by the news Marina is sharing with me.
“You should have seen their expressions when they realized we knew the facts of the case,” Marina continues.
“It’s not what you do, it’s what you claim you do, in Cyprus,” says Bishop Vasilios, to the amusement of all. “When you are a civil servant or an attorney, your job is for life and you have nothing to lose,” Vasilios adds.
The scent of savory roasted lamb is everywhere as I set the table for our dinner with Van Rijn. He leaves for Cyprus in a week, so my focus is to finalize arrangements for his one-month stay. Bishop Vasilios, the archbishop’s right hand, joins us.
Van Rijn arrives with flowers in hand and humility in heart.
“I’m so honored to be here having dinner with the bishop and Michael. It means the world to me,” says Van Rijn.
He is highly intelligent and cultured, and his in-depth knowledge of Byzantine art is impressive, making him a charming dinner guest. Conversation and dinner go on for about an hour or so. Coffee is served.
“How did you manage to secure the mosaic of Thaddeus?” the bishop inquires.
“Veres set up the buy with Dikmen and agreed to act as an intermediary for a fictitious character we made up, which, of course, was me. Veres and another Hungarian by the name of Andrash purchased it and met me outside a casino in Wiesbaden to make the exchange.”
“Fascinating,” says the bishop. “And Andreas?”
I pull the key he gave me out of my pocket and hold it up for him to see.
“Where is the safe?” I ask Van Rijn.
“I thought you didn’t need me anymore?” he says, laughing. I’ve never seen Van Rijn’s soft side, which he uses expertly to work the room tonight.
“Tazulaah, not to change the subject, but Patricia my girlfriend and I have resolved our issues. Do you think the archbishop will mind if she and my two boys join me in Cyprus?”
I look at the bishop, who says, in Greek, “I think the archbishop will be pleased to hear that Munich did not cause a divorce for him.”
“I think we will be able to arrange it,” says Bishop Vasilios.
“I want to feel like a normal citizen in Cyprus. I don’t want to fear the police.”
“The police will not bother you,” I say.
“Tassos wants me to work with the attorney general’s office to recover more artifacts.”
“Maybe you should work with them.”
“Only if you’re in charge. You know I don’t trust the police. Since the Munich case, they are constantly calling me. I just want to have a rest with my family.”
Van Rijn hands me an A4 envelope. “These are photographs of artifacts that Dikmen had in his possession at one time. There is one of Andreas.”
The images are ones that he has presented before. I put the envelope away, trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he truly believed the real Andreas was in Dikmen’s inventory; maybe not.1
“One month stay in Cyprus with your family. No more, no less,” I say to reiterate the new change in our agreement.
Bishop Vasilios extends his hand to Van Rijn, who bows his head.
“Thank you for your contribution, and may God bless you and your family. I hope you enjoy your stay in our country,” says the bishop.
“The fake Andreas is my gift to you when this is all over.”
“The fake Andreas might be a gift; it’s the real one I’m after.”
“Please, Tazulaah, this has been a perfect evening.”
“Van Rijn, we are almost at the finish line. Where is the fake Andreas?”
“In due time,” he says.
As Van Rijn disappears into the night, I turn to Bishop Vasilios to say, “He’s up to something.”
Bishop Vasilios responds, “Make sure the police are informed not to pressure him when he arrives. The last thing we need is for him to create chaos in Cyprus.”
With the Munich case now in the hands of German law enforcement and under the aegis of Germany’s judiciary system, the Office of the Attorney General in Cyprus takes the lead in the prosecution of Aydin Dikmen.
There is more chill inside my office at Octagon the following day than there is outside in the brisk October air as Stella and the Church’s lawyers, Polak and Hole, join me in a meeting to discuss the best way to move the Munich case forward. The German police see me as their key witness, and up until this point they have had direct access to me.
“We have a criminal case that involves the prosecution of Dikmen under German law. Stella, I understand your office is in communication with the attorney’s office in Germany.”
She nods and Hole continues. “The German police are willing to reduce Dikmen’s sentence if he doesn’t object to the artifacts being returned to Cyprus. The German police warn that if we don’t negotiate quickly, we can become caught in civil litigation, which, as we all know, is a costly and lengthy process.”
Polak says, “If Dikmen refuses to cooperate and there are no applicable international treaties to force his hand, then a civil case is our only option. We should avoid this at all costs. Has Germany ratified the Hague Convention of 1954 and its protocols?”
“I know we signed it, but I don’t believe we ratified it. I’ll check into it,” Hole replies.
“The German police want my statement, urgently,” I say. “We also have to put in a claim on the cash found in Dikmen’s possession so that I can tie it to the money that the Church paid to Van Rijn for the artifacts purchased during the first part of the sting. The Germans also asked for Papageorgiou’s preliminary list of which artifacts belong to Cyprus.”
“What is the maximum sentence Dikmen can get under German law?” asks Polak.
“Up to fifteen years. If he cooperates, the Germans will reduce the sentence considerably,” Hole says.
Up until this point Stella has not engaged in the conversation.
“The attorney general is keeping his options open and is investigating extradition of Dikmen for prosecution in Cyprus,” Stella says.
“He’s being tried in Germany for dealing in looted art. What crime can you tie him to in Cyprus?” Hole asks.
“Stealing, of course.”
“Can you prove it?” asks Polak, knowing full well that I am the person holding the most information on Dikmen, and that it would be difficult to substantiate.
“What would the sentence be if he were convicted by Cyprus?” asks Mr. Polak.
“Two years,” says Stella. “Van Rijn will be our witness.”
“He’s an unreliable witness. You’ll need more than Van Rijn to extradite Dikmen,” Polak replies.
At this point the lawyers and I are baffled. We share the belief that it may be best to separate the criminal case from the return of the artifacts. There are only forty days to present evidence that Aydin Dikmen took the artifacts from the occupied area, which is still militarily controlled by the Turkish army. Why would the attorney general’s office risk losing time and delaying the return of the artifacts?
“The attorney general supersedes the president and the archbishop in international legal matters. He decides the direction of this case,” says Stella.
“As long as your strategy does not conflict with our aim to repatriate the artifacts at minimal cost. Keep in mind that we three represent the Church, which is the legal owner of the artifacts,” Polak adds.
Thinking about the larger picture and how extradition will play to the international market, it will surely politicize the issue because of Dikmens, Turkish origin. If prosecuted in Germany, he will get fifteen years as opposed to two in Cyprus.
Behind the floor-to-ceiling windows of my conservatory I sit in a rare moment of silence, reflecting on how to tie up the loose ends of my repatriation duties. The phone rings. It’s Van Rijn, and he is severely agitated.
“The police were waiting for me at the airport in Cyprus! You promised me the dogs would not be a problem, Tazulaah! Are your people trying to arrest me?”
Placing a call to Tassos, I plead with him to wait for my arrival to Cyprus to secure Van Rijn’s cooperation. Van Rijn faxes me newspaper articles from Cyprus regarding the current controversy over the opening of casinos. He writes of his interest in getting a license along with his desire to develop real estate.2
I reach out to the attorney general, emphasizing the importance of working together with one strategy for the best of Cyprus. The Church takes the lead in the repatriation efforts with the government assisting; in the criminal case the government takes the lead with support from the Church’s attorneys and me. I suggest I continue to coordinate until the end of the year to ensure the quickest return of the artifacts. It will enable me to tie up loose ends of the repatriation efforts to the government, I hope.