Human Rights Lawyer Amal Alamuddin, better known as George Clooney’s wife, was in Athens this week to advise the Greek government on how to repatriate the ancient Elgin Marbles statues from Britain.
Mrs Clooney met with Greece’s Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Culture Minister Konstantinos Tasouslas alongside her boss George Robertson.
In a statement released by Doughty Street Chambers a spokesman said:
“Mr Robertson and Mrs Clooney were first asked to provide legal advice to the Greek government on this matter in 2011. They will be holding a series of meetings with government officials during their stay.”
The latest drive for the return of the ancient monuments to Greece was instigated by David Hill, the chairman of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon marbles who believes that Greece must seek recourse to law for their return from the British Museum.
Mr Hill had met the Greek Prime Minister in 2009 at the opening of the Acropolis Museum and on receipt of a ten page proposal from lawyers, including Mrs Clooney, sought a meeting with Mr Samaras.
On becoming Prime Minister in 2012 Mr Samaras, who has previously held the post of Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Culture and Sport in the Greek government, requested a meeting with the lawyers who had put the brief together.
It was during the promotion of his film ‘The Monuments Men’ about the rescuing of art work in Europe during the Second World War that George Clooney backed the return of the marbles, which were sculpted onto the Parthenon, to Greece.
At a press conference at the National Gallery, Clooney said he believed that it would “perhaps be the right thing to do” if the British Museum gave the 2,500-year-old sculptures back to Greece. He was backed by co-star Bill Murray, who said they had had “a very nice stay here” but now should be returned.
The collection of sculptures, inscriptions and architectural features were brought to the UK by Lord Elgin who had removed them from the Acropolis in the early nineteenth century when Athens was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. They are currently on display at the British Museum, despite Greece’s repeated request to have them returned. The marbles comprise 75 metres of friezes depicting mythological scenes and 17 statues, although they are incomplete with the remaining residing on the original building, the Parthenon.
The Greek Government does not recognise the British Museum as the legal owner, only willing to accept them under a permanent loan which according to the museum is only possible if the Greek Government forfeits claim of them.
Last week, Greece launched a campaign for their return and working with the United Nations cultural organisation, UNESCO, is waiting for the British government’s decision to take part in a “mediation procedure”.
