BUDAPEST: A Hungarian woman who kept more than 100 malnourished cats and a dog in squalid conditions in her flat was sentenced to 10 months in prison for animal cruelty, a Budapest court said Tuesday.
The case sparked public outcry and is thought to be among the Central European country’s most serious animal abuse cases in recent years, local media reported.
The woman in her sixties was found guilty of causing “prolonged suffering to a large number of animals” by neglecting them, the court said in a statement.
The defendant — who did not show any remorse — failed to provide adequate food or water to the animals while keeping them locked up in her “faeces-contaminated flat.”
As a result of the neglect, the animals “suffered from external and internal parasitic diseases” and were deprived of “self-sufficiency,” it added.
The woman — who resisted arrest in 2019 and was taken into psychiatric care — has consistently denied neglecting the cats during the trial, and stressed she had helped a lot of animals in the past, independent news site Telex reported.
But some cats died in the flat and surviving animals had to be put down after being rescued due to suffering from a number of diseases, the article stated.
The case became public in Hungary after an animal welfare organization, Helping Angels — which assisted in rescuing the animals — shared photos on Facebook showing the flat’s filthy conditions.
Both the prosecution and the defense have appealed the ruling.
Hungarian woman who kept over 100 cats in squalor jailed for animal cruelty
https://arab.news/p4d54
Hungarian woman who kept over 100 cats in squalor jailed for animal cruelty
- The woman in her sixties was found guilty of causing “prolonged suffering to a large number of animals” by neglecting them, the court said
- The defendant failed to provide adequate food or water to the animals while keeping them locked up in her “faeces-contaminated flat“
Cambodia takes back looted historic artifacts handled by British art dealer
- The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian officials on Friday received more than six dozen historic artifacts described as part of the country’s cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability.
At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom.
The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.
“This substantial restitution represents one of the most important returns of Khmer cultural heritage in recent years, following major repatriations in 2021 and 2023 from the same collection,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement. “It marks a significant step forward in Cambodia’s continued efforts to recover, preserve, and restore its ancestral legacy for future generations.”
The artifacts were described as dating from the pre-Angkorian period through the height of the Angkor Empire, including “monumental sandstone sculptures, refined bronze works, and significant ritual objects.” The Angkor Empire, which extended from the ninth to the 15th century, is best known for the Angkor Wat archaeological site, the nation’s biggest tourist attraction.
Latchford was a prominent antiquities dealer who allegedly orchestrated an operation to sell looted Cambodian sculptures on the international market.
From 1970 to the 1980s, during Cambodia’s civil wars and the communist Khmer Rouge ‘s brutal reign, organized looting networks sent artifacts to Latchford, who then sold them to Western collectors, dealers, and institutions. These pieces were often physically damaged, having been pried off temple walls or other structures by the looters.
Latchford was indicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. He died in 2020, aged 88, before he could be extradited to face charges.
Cambodia, like neighboring Thailand, has benefited from a trend in recent decades involving the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures. These include ancient Asian artworks as well as pieces lost or stolen during turmoil in places such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the prominent institutions that has been returning illegally smuggled art, including to Cambodia.
“The ancient artifacts created and preserved by our ancestors are now being returned to Cambodia, bringing warmth and joy, following the country’s return to peace,” said Hun Many, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
