Crimean Museum Sends Additional Information On Scythian Gold To Amsterdam Court

SIMFEROPOL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th January, 2021) Additional information about the ownership of the Scythian gold collection, which was being disputed by Russia and Ukraine, was submitted to the court of Amsterdam, Tatyana Umrikhina, the director of the Eastern Crimean Historical and Cultural Museum Preserve, told Sputnik on Tuesday.

In November, the Amsterdam court of appeal appointed a new judge in the Scythian gold case, after the court approved Ukraine's demand for the recusal of judge Duco Oranje in late October. The sides were informed of the appointment of a new judge, and were expected to submit additional documents on the case by January 19.

"All additional information has been submitted to the court ... Now we are waiting for the court decision, which will consider the positions of the two parties. The Ukrainian side asks to reconsider the previous decisions of the courts in terms of property rights to the collection and provisions under the UNESCO convention. We hold our position that there can be no revision, everything has been done within the framework of international law," Umrikhina said.

The dispute concerns a Scythian art collection from four Crimean museums that was on loan for an exhibition in Amsterdam in February 2014. A month later, Crimea reunified with Russia. The Dutch museum that was temporarily hosting the collection would have to decide whether to return it to Ukraine or Crimea. The museum said it would hold on to the artworks until either Ukraine and Crimea reached an agreement or the court ruled on the case. The museum did return the part of the collection that had come from a museum in Kiev.

A Dutch court ruled in December 2016 that Ukraine should get the gold collection. Crimea challenged the judgment and replaced its legal team.

The court reached an interim decision in July 2019 against Ukraine invoking the 1970 UNESCO convention on illicit trafficking of cultural property and asked both sides of the dispute to present additional information to enable it make the final judgment.