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US court verdict on Schneerson collection contradicts int’l law

The Schneerson collection was historically formed in our country and constitutes the national heritage of the whole Russian nation
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, January 17 (Itar-Tass) – The Washington court verdict on the Schneerson collection contradicts the international law and is null and void, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Thursday.

Russia takes “the court verdict of the Washington Federal Court as absolutely unlawful and provocative to levy a fine from Russia for the non-fulfilment of an odious court verdict, which was passed in 2010 to hand over the collection of the books and manuscripts known as the Schneerson collection to the US religious community Chabad.”

“We stated repeatedly that this court verdict is extraterritorial, contradicts the international law and is null and void,” the ministry stated. “The Schneerson collection was historically formed in our country and constitutes the national heritage of the whole Russian nation and enjoys the legal immunity as the state property of the Russian Federation,” the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.

“We are indignant that the Washington court had taken such an unprecedented step fraught with very serious consequences as the imposing of the penalty sanctions against the sovereign state,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in its comment. “We hope that the US authorities realize that if the Russian state property not protected by the diplomatic immunity will be arrested in the United States, as Chabad demands as an injunction that we will have to take tough retaliatory actions,” the ministry stated.

On Wednesday, on the lawsuit from the Jewish religious organization Agudas Chasidei Chabad the Washington Federal Court handed down a verdict, under which the Russian government is to pay a fine of 50,000 dollars daily to the Lubavitch Hasidic movement, unless Russia brings the so-called Schneerson collection back to them.