For whom the bell sells

While the robbery of churches is sadly common in the Czech Republic, an especially shocking case has recently come to light. A priest and twelve other people have been accused of being involved in the theft of a gothic bell and other items from a Catholic church in a village in north Moravia.

For whom the bell sells

Petr Chovanec, photo: CTK

The trial concerning the stolen items from the church in Det"ichovice, which is near the town of Bruntal, was adjourned yesterday because many of the accused did not show up in court. Among the indicted are the head of the Heritage Office in Ostrava, two antique dealers and two gangs of thieves.

And then there is the church's former priest Petr Chovanec, who maintains that he never saw the bell and that he only came to know of its theft from the police. But the indictment accuses Father Chovanec of allowing the bell to be taken from its tower, and for selling it and fittings and ornaments from the altar, confessional and organ-loft. The bell - which was cast in 1564 and is on the register of national cultural treasures - was taken from the church in 1996, while the other items disappeared in 1997.

Father Chovanec is said to have sold the bell to a Mr Jaroslav Mohlenik for 25,000 crowns, who then transferred it to a farm in Zator. In addition, the priest is accused of selling the fittings and ornaments for 20,000 crowns. The value of these items is actually at least three million crowns, while the bell is worth at least two million crowns.

But - believe it or not - this was not the only time that the bell was stolen: in 2000 a gang of four stole it from the farm in Zator and sold it to the antique dealer Juraj Mach. He functioned as the middleman when the bell was sold to a German trader, Joachim Schmid.

The trader is said to have bought the bell for two thousand marks - around 30,000 crowns. But he did not wish to provide payment until he had legal permission from the Czech authorities to take the bell out of the country. According to the indictment, officials at the Heritage Office in Ostrava wrongfully issued Mr Schmid with a licence to export the bell to Germany, and the officials have been indicted for abusing their powers.

But the bell's current location is still in question: Interpol conducted an investigation into its whereabouts with inconclusive results, and there is a chance that it still is in the Czech Republic.