THE HAGUE, May 18 /TASS/. The Amsterdam District Court has extended until June 1 the deadline by which the University of Amsterdam should give its reply on the Scythian gold case, the court’s Spokeswoman Fatima El-Gueriri told TASS on Wednesday.
We have not received any written reply from the University though May 18 was established as the final deadline, she said.
The court’s spokeswoman noted that the date of the first public hearing on the Scythian gold case remains unchanged.
"It is October 5," El Gueriri said adding that the judges could change the date if they deemed that necessary.
The collection of Scythian gold, featuring 550 exhibits from five museums, one in Kiev and four in Crimea, was dispatched to the Netherlands in February 2014 to be exhibited at the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam when Crimea was still part of Ukraine. Later in 2014, when Crimea reunified with Russia, the museum decided not to return the gold to either Ukraine or Russia and urged an official investigation that would identify the owner.
The exhibits provided by the Kiev museum returned to Ukraine in September 2014.
In April 2014, the Amsterdam District Court recognized Ukraine to be a litigating party in the dispute because the Ukrainian state was claiming its rights to the disputable artifacts.
In November 2014, four Crimean museums, including the Tavrida Central Museum, the Kerch Historical and Cultural Reserve, the Bakhchisaray Historical and Cultural Reserve and the Khersones Tavrichesky National Reserve, filed a combined lawsuit with Amsterdam's court seeking the Scythian gold’s return.
Crimea believes it has every right to claim the exhibits because they have been found in the peninsula’s territory and have been kept in its museums.