SIMFEROPOL, May 17. /TASS/. The Supreme Court of the Netherlands has prohibited anyone representing Crimean museums from attending hearings on the handover of Scythian gold to Ukraine, says Tatiana Umrikhina, director of the East Crimean Museum-reserve.
"We are not allowed to attend any court hearings. As the Dutch Attorney General said, there is no point now, all these materials […] are present and there is no one to hear. And the verdict will be made. I have no doubt, there’s little room for doubt here, what verdict will be handed down, because it is all politics," Umrikhina said.
Meanwhile, she said it was a good thing that museum pieces being brought from Crimea to Amsterdam would remain at the Allard Pierson Museum despite Ukrainian demands.
"Let's hope that it will stay this way until the international situation stabilizes," she added.
Scythian gold is a collection of over 2,000 pieces, used for the "Crimea: gold and secrets of the Black Sea" exhibition, that took place in Amsterdam’s Allard Pierson Museum between February and August of 2014. The collection’s status has become unclear after the reunification of Crimea with Russia in March of 2014. Both Crimean museums and Ukraine claimed the collection. In this regard, the University of Amsterdam, which supervises the Allard Pierson Museum, suspended the handover of the collection until the sides reach an agreement or legally resolve the dispute. In late October, 2021, an Amsterdam court ruled that the Scythian gold collection must be handed over to Ukraine. Russia appealed this decision in the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, which is supposed to announce its verdict on September 15.