Today, October 26, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal judged that the collection of Scythian gold shall be returned to Ukraine. The Scythian Gold collection was on view at the Allard Pierson Museum prior to the illegal annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. According to the ruling Scythian gold will return to Ukraine.
The Russian Federation laid claim to the artifacts of the Ukrainian exhibition "Crimea. Golden Island in the Black Sea".. Ukraine has opposed the illegal transfer of ownership to the Russian Federation. In fact, Ukrainian Scythian gold could end up in Russian institutions, the so-called "Crimean museums." Under conditions of occupation, it is obvious and understandable that Ukrainian museums on the Crimean peninsula have been seized and looted by the occupying authorities.
"Russia is trying to continue its attempts to steal our heritage and appropriate it, thus rewriting history. Finally, justice for the exhibits from Crimea was achieved. Scythian gold will soon return to Ukraine. Where is its rightful place historically," said Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy.
The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy praises the decision of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal. After all, the Russian Federation in Crimea has violated a number of international legal acts, including the conventions of UNESCO and the Council of Europe. The temporarily occupied Crimea is a place where cultural values are not protected or preserved for future generations.
It should be recalled that on December 14, 2016, the Amsterdam District Court ruled that the exhibits of the Crimean museums had to be returned to Ukraine. The judgment was delivered pursuant to the UNESCO convention, according to which the art treasures should be returned to a sovereign state, which provided them for a temporary exhibition.
On March 28, 2017, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal received an appeal against the ruling from the representatives of Crimean museums.
On October 28, 2020, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal granted Ukraine's motion to disqualify a judge in the Scythian gold case due to confirmation of the presiding judge's link with the lawyers of Crimean museums which could indicate his bias.