Patel returns looted artifacts to Indonesian president

International Patel returns looted artifacts to Indonesian president Comments: by Finya Swai - 07/23/26 6:29 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Finya Swai - 07/23/26 6:29 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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A collection of cultural artifacts from Indonesia’s Papua region that were looted and illegally taken to the U.S. have been returned to Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Indonesian officials confirmed to reporters.

The handover of the artifacts took place Wednesday at Prabowo’s residence in the Indonesian capital Jakarta during a meeting with FBI Director Kash Patel.

Indonesia’s Culture Minister Fadli Zon told reporters after the meeting that Patel personally handed the artifacts to Prabowo as part of an ongoing effort to recover and return cultural artifacts.

“Besides our official discussions, Patel also brought Indonesian cultural artifacts as part of cooperation between the Indonesian government, through the Culture Ministry, and the FBI to return cultural objects that had been illegally smuggled into the United States,” Zon said.

The recovered collection originating from Papua included stone ax heads and ceremonial objects traced to the Dani, Asmat and Sentani tribes.

“These are very valuable objects because this repatriation process is part of our effort to restore our cultural sovereignty,” Zon said.

He added that the artifacts will later be displayed at Indonesia’s National Museum, where the public will be able to view and study Indonesia’s cultural heritage.

Zon said the FBI had previously assisted Indonesia with recovering stolen cultural objects and said he hoped that cooperation will continue.

The handoff follows a series of recent efforts by the U.S. to return looted Southeast Asian antiquities that were illegally smuggled from the region.

Earlier this month, two eighth-century bronze Buddhist sculptures depicting bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara were also returned after being stolen from an Indonesian archaeological site and trafficked through an American antiquities dealer.

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