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Russian senator slams 'unlawful' Dutch court ruling on Scythian gold

It is also noted that Crimean museums should not have taken their treasures away from the republic amid the unstable situation during the state coup in Kiev

SEVASTOPOL, June 9. /TASS/. The ruling made by the Supreme Court of the Netherlands that the Scythian gold collection is to be handed over to Ukraine is unlawful, as it belongs to Crimean museums under all possible laws, a Russian senator told TASS on Friday.

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands said on Friday that it had upheld the verdict of the Amsterdam Appellate Court demanding that the Scythian gold collection be transferred to Ukraine.

"Such decisions are no surprise. We have long understood that law as such does not apply to Russia in these countries. The ruling [on the transfer of the Scythian gold] is unlawful and violates the principles <…> of the inviolability of property rights, and the owners of the Scythian gold are Crimean museums and the collection should be returned to them," said Sergey Tsekov, who represents Crimea at the Federation Council (upper house of Russia’s parliament).

According to the senator, such decisions hurt the Netherlands itself. "Yes, they have harmed us, no doubt, but they have harmed themselves as well. I don’t think that any exhibition will go there from Crimea, from Russia in the next 100 years," he said, adding that other countries would also think twice before engaging in cultural cooperation with the Netherlands.

He also noted that Crimean museums should not have taken their treasures away from the republic amid the unstable situation during the state coup in Kiev. He noted that in case of the success of the special military operation in Ukraine and its complete "liberation from Nazism and fascism and the establishment of [Russia’s] control over it," there would be a "hypothetical chance for the return of the Scythian gold to Russia."

The Scythian Gold is a collection of more than 2,000 items that were put on display at an exhibition at the Allard Pierson Museum of the University of Amsterdam in February 2014 when Crimea was still part of Ukraine. Uncertainty over the collection's future emerged when Crimea reunited with Russia in March 2014. Crimea’s museums and Ukraine both laid claim to the collection. The University of Amsterdam, which oversees the Allard Pierson Museum's activities, put the handover procedure on hold until either the dispute was legally resolved or the parties came to terms.

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