Rare : Riad Al Qassas told customs the £2m statue from Libya was from Turkey and worth £100,000 . A judge took a day out of court yesterday to visit the British Museum . But it wasn ’ t for an Easter holiday jolly around the exhibits . It was to help him rule in the case of an ancient statue which is said to have be smuggled out of war-torn Libya . The trial centres on a businessman who claimed in paper work that the treasure was a statue for home decoration . Experts , however say the Greek marble figure – which is thought to depict Persephone , goddess of the underworld – was looted from a world heritage site . While the man who had it delivered to a warehouse in West London claimed it was about 100 years old and worth around £75,000 , they say it is worth £2million and dates from the third to first centuries BC . They claim it was intended for the lucrative private market in classical antiquities . Yesterday District Judge John Zani – accompanied by a gaggle of barristers and solicitors – went to inspect the statue at the British Museum , where it is being safeguarded in a basement till the conclusion of the case . Although the press were barred from the viewing , a video of it was later played in court which showed the judge circling the statue as marks were pointed out to him . He was told stains and other evidence meant it was ‘ definitely ’ excavated illegally from the ancient Greek colony of Cyrene – once known as the Athens of Africa . It is said to have been smuggled out of Libya via Dubai in 2011 before being discovered by UK customs officials two years later . Libya has been plagued by looting and cultural vandalism since the fall of Colonel Gaddaffi in 2011 , with the resulting power vacuum effectively ending the state-sponsored preservation of the country ’ s multiple Greek and Roman sites . The sculpture is said to have originally served as a grave marker and displays unusual iconography including snake-like bracelets and a doll-type figurine . Jordanian national Riad Al Qassas – who is not in court – is accused of falsifying paperwork after he told customs that the sculpture came from Turkey . Dr Peter Higgs , curator of Greek sculpture at the museum , told the judge the statue was in ‘ the top ten ’ of its class . Caught in a lie : Experts at the British Museum , pictured , say the statue is worth £2million and dates from the third to first centuries BC . He said : ‘ I believe the statue was definitely made in Libya , in Cyrenaica ’ , adding it was extremely rare . He added that his valuation of £2million had been made on 2011 prices , but said there were no directly comparable examples from auction house records . Andrew Bird , for HMRC , told Westminster Magistrates ’ Court that academics had decided ‘ on the balance of probabilities , this statue had been unlawfully excavated from a UNESCO world heritage site ’ . He said documents suggested Al Qassas had only a marginal role in the export , placing the blame with Hassan Fazeli , a Dubai businessman who has claimed the sculpture has belonged to his family collection since 1977 . Ben Watson , who represents Al Qassas , indicated his client would be happy to hand over the sculpture to Tripoli if it was shown to originate from there . Al Qassas denies knowingly or recklessly delivering a false document to HMRC . The case continues . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article .
Marble statue is said to have been looted from a site in Libya . Experts say it is worth £2m and dates from about 100 years old BC . Riad Al Qassas told customs it was a statue for 'home decoration '