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<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>I would like to begin by expressing my
profound condolences to Roxanna's son, Jaime, and her brother Fred Leo Brown for
their tragic loss.<BR><BR>I have met Roxanna on many occasions over the years at
conferences and when we were both living in Chiang Mai. She was one of the
leading art historians working on the ceramics of Southeast Asia and her
contributions based on research of ceramics from shipwrecks are of major
significance. The suddeness of her death would have been traumatic in and of
itself, but the circumstances make it not only a tragedy but primo facie a case
of horrible injustice.<BR><BR>I was very sorry to be away from Seattle when the
conference she was invited to took place as I had looked forward to her
presentation. As it turned out that presentation was aborted because
of the events which members of the Thailand/Laos/Cambodia and Vietnam
Studies listserve have become well acquainted. But perhaps some facts bear
repeating.<BR><BR>Roxanna was invited to a conference on "Maritime Asia in the
Early Modern World" sponsored by the East Asian Studies Center at the University
of Washington. The conference was held at UW on May 10th. On Friday, before she
could participate in the conference, she was arrested. According to the
<EM>Seattle Post-Intellingcer (</EM></FONT><A
href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/363131_antiquities15.html"><FONT
size=2>http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/363131_antiquities15.html</FONT></A><FONT
size=2>), "She was the first person arrested as part of a five-year, undercover
investigation into smuggled Thai artifacts at some Southern California museums
and galleries." The <EM>P-I</EM> story notes that "An affidavit filed in the
case said Jonathan and Cari Markell -- the owners of one of the California
galleries -- had used Brown's electronic signature several times to falsify
appraisal forms. In one case, an appraisal for items to be donated to the
Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena indicated Brown had inspected the items." What
is very curious is that the Markells have yet to be charged, while Roxanna was
arrested. So, one question to include in any petition is why she was arrested
when those she was accused of assisting in art smuggling have not been? After
her arrest, Roxanna was placed in the Federal Detention Center at SEATAC
(Seattle-Tacoma) airport (2425 South 200 Street<BR>Seatac, WA). While at at the
Detention Center, Roxanna fell ill, but according to the <EM>P-I</EM>
account the Center did not release information about the health screening
she was given when placed in the Center. The </FONT></FONT><FONT
face=Arial><FONT size=2><EM>P-I</EM> account reported that she was unable to
appear in court on Monday, but did do so on Tuesday. Again, there are no public
reports on her appearance in court. The Center reported her death on Wednesday
and according to the <EM>Seattle Times</EM> (<A
href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004415548_loot15m.html) ">http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004415548_loot15m.html)
</A></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>"<FONT face=Arial
size=2>a</FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>n autopsy was performed by
the King County Medical Examiner's Office on Wednesday", but as of my writing
this I have seen no report on what the autopsy found. The presumption is tht she
died of a heart attack. </FONT><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>A second question
that needs to be included in a petition is why if she were ill on Monday did she
not receive medical attention? Further, were her family notified of her ill
health and, if not, why not?</FONT></FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<DIV><BR>It has been suggested that a petition be sent to the Association for
Asian Studies asking for support of the association in seeking a proper inquiry
into Roxanna's detention and death. I certainly support such a petition, but (as
a former president of AAS) I do not think it is necessary or even useful to
go through the AAS. Those members of AAS who know Roxanna and her work are most
likely subscribers to the listserves of the T/L/C or VSG and it is they, as the
exchanges the past couple of days reveal, are going to be most interested in
supporting an inquiry into her detention and death. I think that such a petition
should be sent to the relevant authorities in Seattle with a copy to the
lawyer(s) which it appears the family has retained. I would like to ask Barbara
Gaerlan and Nhung Tuyet Tran who were classmates/friends of Roxanna at UCLA to
work with me in drafting such a petition. I welcome any other input others may
wish to contribute to this process. Once we have a petition completed, we will
seek signatures through the T/L/C and VSG listserves.<BR><BR>We will need the
names and addresses of officials at the Federal Detention Center in Seattle to
whom the petition should be sent. I have yet to identify such officials and
although I have some queries out, I would also appreciate any help anyone
receiving this message can provide. We also need the name and addresses of the
lawyer(s) for the family. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I want to close by emphasizing for Roxanna's family that we as her
fellow scholars and friends will try to do what we can to press for a full and
open inquiry.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Yours,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Charles (Biff) Keyes<BR>Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and
International Studies<BR>Department of Anthropology<BR>Box 353100<BR>University
of Washington<BR>Seattle, WA 98195-3100</DIV>
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