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Lawyer says appeal against Amsterdam court’s ruling on Scythian gold may take months

The Scythian gold collection has been kept by the Amsterdam University archaeological museum for more than two years now

MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/. It may take a court up to one year to consider the appeal against the Amsterdam District Court’s ruling that the Scythian gold treasures should be returned to Ukraine and not the Crimean museums, said attorney Anastasiya Sivitskaya who represents the Crimean museums.

"We have three months to file an appeal, while considering the appeal may take up to one year if not more. The future of the treasures will be decided later, we will go to a court of appeal for sure," she added.

According to Sivitskaya, Russian lawyers are disappointed with the ruling. "We expected the court to take our arguments into account and recognize the need to preserve museum collections as well as protect the museums’ rights as cultural institutions," she noted.

As reported earlier, on Wednesday, the Amsterdam District Court ruled that the Scythian gold should be returned to Ukraine.

However, after the peninsula reunited with Russia in March 2014, an uncertainty over the collection arose as both Russia and Ukraine claimed the exhibits.

The Scythian gold collection has been kept by the Amsterdam University archaeological museum (the Allard Pierson Museum) for more than two years now. The Amsterdam University suspended the procedure of handing over the gold collection until the dispute was solved.

The Crimean museums claim their full right to the collection on the grounds that all the exhibits were found on Crimea’s territory and were stored in the peninsula’s museums.