Crimean Museums Preparing Arguments for Scythian Gold Artifacts Trial

SIMFEROPOL, January 5 (Sputnik) — Crimean museums are preparing their arguments for the court hearing regarding the return of a collection of gold Scythian artifacts from Netherlands, the director of the Central Museum of Tavrida in Simferopol, Crimea told RIA Novosti Monday.

Late in November, Crimean museums filed a lawsuit with a court in Amsterdam demanding that the Allard Pierson Museum return a collection of Scythian gold artifacts which was sent for an exhibition in February 2014 and kept by the museum after the Crimea’s reunification with Russia. The gold items came from five Ukrainian museums, four of which are located in Crimea. However the Ukrainian government has demanded that the entire collection be returned to Kiev.

“We are working to strengthen our case. The Ukrainian side has only one argument – the national legislation, which declares the collection of Scythian gold as the National Heritage of Ukraine. They have no other arguments. They never owned, kept or studied these items,” Andrey Malgin said adding that Crimea has a greater claim to keep the collection than Kiev does.

Earlier on Monday an official representative of the University of Amsterdam, which owns the Allard Pierson Museum, told RIA Novosti that the first court hearing regarding the collection’s return will be held on January 21.

Malgin said that the January 21 hearing will be conducted with none of the parties present but he believes that it will take long time before a final verdict is delivered.