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Crimean museum director says Scythian gold case appeal could take one year to be reviewed

Director of Crimea’s Central Museum of Tavrida told TASS earlier that the Crimean museums had officially informed the Amsterdam District Court about their intention to appeal against the ruling

© AP Photo/Peter Dejong

SIMFEROPOL, January 20. /TASS/. It may take the Amsterdam District Court up to one year to review the appeal the Crimean museums are going to file, General Director of the Eastern Crimean Historical and Cultural Preserve Tatyana Umrikhina told reporters on Friday.

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Crimea informs Amsterdam court of plans to continue legal fight for Scythian gold

"The appeal may take up to one year to be reviewed. We have a chance to present new materials, besides, judges will change. Time is on our side," she said.

Umrikhina noted that the Crimean museums, including the preserve headed by herself, "have solid grounds for filing an appeal since many provisions of international laws have been violated." "We very much hope that politics will take the back seat while only legal issues will remain that have to be solved," the museum director stressed.

Director of Crimea’s Central Museum of Tavrida Andrei Malgin told TASS earlier that the Crimean museums had officially informed the Amsterdam District Court that they intended to file an appeal against the court’s ruling to return the Scythian gold collection to Ukraine.

The Crimean museums have been given three months to prepare the appeal, starting from the day when the court announced its decision and that deadline comes on March 14, 2017.

Legal battle

As TASS reported earlier, on December 14, 2016, the Amsterdam District Court ruled that the Scythian gold treasures should be returned to Ukraine and not the Crimean museums.

The Scythian gold collection from the Crimean museums was put on view at the Allard Pierson Museum of the University of Amsterdam in February 2014 when Crimea was still part of 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. In this regard, the University of Amsterdam suspended the handover until either the dispute is legally resolved or the parties come to terms.

Apart from the Central Museum of Tavrida, the Kerch Historical and Cultural Preserve, the Bakhchysarai Historical and Cultural Preserve and the Chersonesus Historical and Cultural Preserve are among those museums whose items are currently kept in Amsterdam. Items provided for the exhibition by a Kiev museum, were returned to Ukraine in September.

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