CAIRO: The scandalous theft of Vincent Van Gogh’s $50 million painting “Poppy Flowers” from Cairo’s Mahmoud Khalil Museum in August 2010 was not what it seemed, according to Mohsen Shaalan, former deputy culture minister and head of the ministry’s Fine Arts Sector.
In October 2010, Shaalan was found guilty of negligence and along with 11 other culture ministry employees, was sentenced to three years in prison but freed on bail pending an appeal.
He spoke to Daily News Egypt on the eve of appeal hearing in his case, in which the court announced that the final verdict will be declared on April 21.
“It’s horrifying,” he said, “But I think now my lawyers can speak more freely because when [ex-culture minister] Farouk Hosni was still in office, they couldn’t speak in court. Some issues were banned because of his influence.”
But that’s not all Shaalan is implying about Egypt’s longest-sitting ex-minister who had been at the helm of the Ministry of Culture since 1987 until he was forced out following the January 25 uprising which ousted Egypt’s 30-year ruler Hosni Mubarak.
Shaalan dismisses claims that the theft was a result of negligence and faulty security systems, alleging that Hosni had refused to allocate the funds necessary to upgrade the systems, dealing with the issue “apathetically.”
“The theft was carefully orchestrated and required the assistance of someone inside the museum,” he claimed.
He said that the intrusion into the museum does not point to the negligence of the security staff. “There are elements of the story that don’t add up,” he added.
“I refused to keep quiet. Farouk Hosni was used to people quietly taking the blame, sending them messages through intermediaries to stay quiet for him to later resolve the issue. But I refused to be blamed publicly for something I wasn’t guilty of. So I spoke out about the fact that he failed to execute his responsibilities and started exposing official correspondences between myself and the minister in which I had highlighted the faulty camera system.”
He said that three-year prison sentence “came clearly from above.”
“Former first lady Suzanne Mubarak supported Farouk Hosni and refused my retaliation in the media against him. Corruption was rife in the ministry and Farouk Hosni led the ministry as if it was his private domain,” he said.
Yet despite the fact that at least 10 ex-ministers who held positions at some point during the Mubarak era have had their assets frozen, have been banned from travel and are under investigation for a slew of corrupt practices, Hosni has yet to be dragged in court.
Shaalan himself has not filed a complaint against Hosni at the Prosecutor General’s office accusing him of anything. But he told DNE after Thursday’s hearing that along with all the others implicated in the case, he plans to file an official complaint.
He mentioned, however, the highly publicized case filed by Yasser Seif, head of the International Association for the Development of Environment and Culture, accusing Hosni of gifting the former first lady an ancient piece of jewelry after the opening of the Jewelry Museum in Alexandria in April 2010.
As the story goes, the necklace which once belonged to Princess Samiha Mohamed Toufic, was emblazoned with the initials “SM.”
Shaalan claims that he has witnesses who can attest to the fact that she asked whether the initials could also stand for “Suzanne Mubarak.”
The allegations however, were met with a defamation case filed by Hosni, as well as the Director of Alexandria’s National Museum Ibrahim Darwish, and former head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass against Seif, where they presented evidence proving that the accusations were baseless and that all the museum’s contents are registered and intact.
Back to the Van Gogh, Shaalan revealed that on the day of the theft, one of the museum’s security guards recorded a telephone conversation between him and an airport security policeman in which the latter confirmed reports that the painting had been intercepted. But then after relaying the recording to Hosni, it was announced that the painting was not found. Hosni was indeed quoted by international and local media as saying that he was given "inaccurate" information, and the painting was still missing.
The recording was heard in court on Thursday, Shaalan told DNE.
“I don’t believe the painting was smuggled out of the museum without the cooperation of somebody from within,” said Shaalan.
“For somebody to cut it out of the frame, roll it carefully [the paint was applied thickly with a knife and would have cracked and crumpled had it been rolled tightly] around a thick tube. How would it have been carried out without it being seen?” he asked.
He also drew attention to a fire that broke out at the same time in an office in the museum. “It seems that the scenario was to create a distraction while the theft was taking place.”
Shaalan also questioned how the official sign put up to replace paintings when they are on loan was found hanging in place of the missing work. “This was possibly to delay the notification of museum officials by visitors that the painting had disappeared.”
Another mystery, Shaalan said, is related to the fact that all 260 pieces of the Mahmoud Khalil Museum collection were due to go into storage in a basement in the Gezira Art Center only 10 days after the painting was stolen, in accordance with a planned renovation of the museum.
“Such a coincidence cannot be ignored,” he said.
Repeated attempts to speak to the former minister at his home failed. However, his personal secretary told DNE in a telephone conversation that “Mohsen Shaalan is responsible for his words and we will respond to any comments at a later date should we choose to.”
