Evidence is discussed and documents are scoured

Marion True made a surprise appearance on the first day of the trial

Marion True has resigned from the museum and the institution is to return three artefacts to Italy

The gallery's owner makes no comment on artefacts' origins, but insists that all purchases were made legally

The case, which is the result of a decade-long investigation by Italian police, has been delayed because crucial documents had to be translated

Switzerland’s is known for its pivotal presence in the underground network that moves illicitly excavated artefacts from country to country

Iran has clamped down on illegal trade in antiquities, which has led to archaeological sites being promptly denuded post-discovery

It is the first time that Iranian courts have issued a harsh punishment for the illicit exportation of goods from an archaeological site

Hicham Aboutaam has pleaded guilty in the US to a Customs misdemeanour while his brother, Ali, is seeking to have his conviction by an Egyptian court nullified

Many of the objects, some extant since the first millennium BC, were looted from the site and entered the international market

Hicham Aboutaam sold the antiquity to a New York buyer for $950,000; the US says it is part of a the looted Western Cave hoard

Illicit excavations occur as de-mined areas often show no signs of the riches below the surface so authorities do not deploy heritage security teams

Roland Dumas and Jacques Tajan face accusations of abuse of confidence after evidence suggests proceeds from auction were illicitly retained

After the tomb was discovered, Iran's Ministry of Culture were unable to prevent civilians from systematically emptying them of artefacts, which were then shipped overseas

Before police intervened, thousands of objects were plundered by locals and sold on to Europe

Postponement is due to document translation troubles

The Art Newspaper takes inventory of the worst casualties

While the Warka Vase has been accounted for, reports suggest that the cylinder seal collection has vanished

Switzerland also debating new national legislation to make the movement of art and artefacts more transparent

Archives, boxes of drawings and documents pertaining to court procedures were confiscated by bailiffs, following the freezing of their assets last year

The restrictions were imposed following a 1999 request made by Italy under Article 9 of the Unesco Convention

Wounded archaeology

Cristina Ruiz spent a day with the man who controls much of the illicit excavation on the site of ancient Veii, one of the largest Etruscan cities.

A full import ban may not be intended by the Chinese, merely a bilateral agreement to implement the 1970 Unesco Convention

An estimated three million shipwrecks lay undiscovered. UNESCO is calling for a global treaty to protect them. Salvors say it is unrealistic and unworkable, despite developments in deep-sea exploration technology

As last month’s antiquities sales boomed, The Art Newspaper surveyed leading dealers and specialists in New York

Hard times on Hollywood Road

Founder of unauthorised casts sentenced to ten years

Professor John Malcolm Russell's personal connection to the objects left him well placed to recognise them in images from sales

In a lecture given at London's Institute of Archaeology, Dr Lamia al Galiani-Werr drove home the urgency of the issue