Thursday, December 18, 2014

Peru Seeks Extradition of Greenpeace Activists for Harming Nazca Lines

12/18/2014

LIMA – Peruvian authorities are to ask for the extradition of Greenpeace activists accused of damaging the ancient Nazca Lines, the country’s Vice-Culture Minister Luis Jaime Castillo has said.

The vice minister said in statements on Tuesday that given that the activists had already left Peru, the relevant authorities would be asked to seek their extradition from their countries of residence, the Peru21 news portal reported.

“Our heritage has been tainted with this act. Now everyone would want to go to the Nazca Lines to see the area that was affected by the actions of Greenpeace,” said Castillo.

The Nazca Lines are a series of hundreds of ancient geoglyphs located in the Nazca Desert in southern Peru depicting stylized hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, fish, sharks, orcas, and lizards.

They were declared a world heritage site in 1994 by UNESCO.

The Greenpeace members involved in the case left Peru at the weekend when a court rejected the request of prosecutor’s office to stop them from leaving the country as the document did not indicate where they must be notified.

Greenpeace director Kumi Naidoo apologized to Culture Minister Diana Alvarez Calderon for the damage caused, but refused to identify the perpetrators.

On Monday, the activists wrote a message in bright yellow about climatic change near the Colibri figure, one of the most recognized geoglyphs of the Nazca Lines.

Until now only one of the activists has been identified, Mauro Fernandez of Argentina.

Crimes against Peru’s cultural heritage are punishable by up to eight years in prison.


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