Finnish tourist allegedly breaks earlobe from an Easter Island statue
SANTIAGO, Chile – A Finnish tourist was detained after allegedly stealing a piece of volcanic rock from one of the massive Moai statues on Easter Island.
Marko Kulju, 26, faces prison and a fine of $19,000 if convicted of breaking off part of the ear of a Moai, one of numerous statues carved out of volcanic rock between 400 and 1,000 years ago to represent deceased ancestors.
A native Rapanui woman told authorities she witnessed the theft Sunday at Anakena beach and saw Kulju fleeing from the scene with a piece of the broken earlobe in his hand. Police later identified him by the tattoos the woman saw on his body.
While some of the Moais are more than 70 feet tall, most average 20 feet in height and weigh about 20 metric tons. The statues gaze out on the south Pacific more than 2,300 miles off Chile, which annexed Easter Island in the 19th century.
The Moais were nominated, but not chosen, as one of the new seven wonders of the world, selected by average citizens in a global poll a nonprofit organization conducted last year.
About 3,800 people live on the 70 sq.-mile island, most of them ethnic Rapanui.
signonsandiego.com
Comments
Pauli and eTurobonews are not well informed.
-The Moai the named adrenaline addict allegedly climbed is not just one of 400, it belong to the most beautifull and scenic groups of staues on the whole island.
- That group, at Anakena - is not the group pictured above. The picture above is of a group near the main town, and was restored oly a few years ago.
- Finally, the group at Anakana does not gaze out on the south Pacific: it faces land inwards
There were more column meters published on the death of Princess Diana than there were on the invasion at Normandy. Soon there will be more column meters on this earlobe of the moai statute (1 out of 400-1000, the hungry media does not even know the number) than there are columns on the massive Buddha statutes annihilated by the Taleban regime.
This countryman of mine has been lynched high. Ear off. 7 years in a South American prison. After this publicity, even a day in a South American jail would kill him.
And as I read the actual story behind the News from Congoo to Australia, it seems to me that he's not proven to break it by purpose.
A high-octan, adrenaline addict adventurer climbs on a top of a high and sacred monument. Bad enough. The Finn brokes the ear of this fragile lava type of stone. Worse enough. My countryman tries to hide it and runs away. Worst enough. (OK, Oll Korrect, he confessed what happened later on.) But this does not prove him a thief though the whole globe would shout and shoot so!
It was the Easter week at the Easter Island. The same week the Finnish leaders of the Botnia pulp factory at the border river between Uruguay and Argentine were on trial in a South American court for "Planned damage". After Finnish flags had been burnt in the streets of Argentine for 3 years for this biggest investment ever to the poor country of Uruguay. We have a classical scape goat and red herring here, it appears to me. Not every tattood boxer is suffering from Dementia pugilistica. In Finland we enjoy extreme sports, but the aim was not to vandalize it appears to me. So now we know we should prefer Tibet over the highest 22-meter Moai for climbing. That I want to apologize.
An outrageous mob wanting to lynch a man is an old scene, only the internet phenomenon is new. A raging mob behaves irrationally when it goes out to lynch. In AOL there are already over 3200 News comments on this (versus 5500 on the US presidential election campaign), 314000 votes, 52% would sentence him to de facto death in South American jail, without knowing whether it was an alleged theft or an accident from climbing. If it bleads, it leads.
Few FACTS about Finland
Finland has been the least corrupt country in the world in the transparency international throughout the 3rd millennium. In the OECD's international assessment of student performance, PISA, Finland has consistently been among the highest scorers worldwide; in 2003, Finnish 15-year-olds came first in reading literacy, science, and mathematics; and second in problem solving, worldwide. The World Economic Forum ranks Finland's tertiary education #1 in the world. In 1906, Finland became the first European nation (and one of the first in the world) to grant women the right to vote and run for parliament. Finland's most famous company is Nokia, the world's largest producer of mobile phones. Just 30 years ago, Nokia company was selling mainly tiers and rubber boots.The most famous Finnish person alive today is Linus Torvalds, who originated (and still maintains) Linux, the shareware free computer operating system. It has been embraced especially in the developing countries, instead of the commercial Microsoft Windows.
Pauli Ojala
Finland
PS. Another viewpoint on the hang-up party:
http://www.helsinki.fi/~pjojala/Easter-island-broken-ear-mob-lynch.htm
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