French archeologist free on bail, seven months later

The criminal court in the second city of Alexandria agreed to bail of 5,000 Egyptian pounds (around USD 800) after the French consulate gave an undertaking he would not flee the country, said Samira Soufiane, counsel for Stephane Rousseau.

The Frenchman was arrested at Cairo airport in August 2003 after customs officers found several terracotta figurines and 158 coins in his luggage . . . the defence insists they were cheap copies which Rousseau picked up in curio shops and had nothing to do with the excavations he had worked on.

Posted by David on March 31, 2004 3:25 PM